Baladi News – (Omar Haj Hussein)
Today, the 10th of June, marks the death of the former president of the regime, Hafez al-Assad, after achieving the necessary preparations for his son, Bashar, to inherit the reins of power, despite the fact that Syria is not a monarchy and that it has a republican form of government.
Due to the dozens of massacres that he committed in the 1980s and 1990s under the cover of allegedly fighting “Muslim Brotherhood”, Hafez al-Assad was known as the “butcher”. Indeed, Assad massacres were committed against popular movements, and they include the following:
1- Jisr al-Shughur Massacre
On the 10th of March, more than 25 helicopters carrying units of the Special Forces led by brigadier general Ali Haidar, his assistant Adnan Assi, head of Idlib intelligence, and Tawfik Salha, the governor of Idlib, landed in the outskirts of the town. The forces imposed a tight blockade on the city and pounded it with rockets and mortars, destroying homes and shops and killing and wounding dozens of people. Later, the forces stormed the city and slaughtered residents indiscriminately in the streets. More than 30 shops were looted and burned and at least two hundred people were arrested. The following day a military tribunal ordered the execution of more than a hundred of the detainees. In all, about 150-200 people were said to have been killed, including Christians.
2- Palmyra Prison Massacre
More than 1100 prisoners were shot dead, hanged, or killed in an unknown way on the 27th of June 1980. The executions were committed by the Brigade of Defence under the command of Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of Hafez al-Assad.
3- The Two Massacres of Aleppo City
On the 13th of July 1980, 192 people were killed and injured, mostly poor vendors, when 20 cars carrying members of al-Baath party attacked what is known as Sunday Market in Masharqa neighborhood of eastern Aleppo. The scene was repeated on the morning of the 11th of August of the same year. That morning, when people were visiting each other to exchange greetings on the feast, Assad’s forces surrounded the area, took men out of their houses, and shot them dead.
4- Sarmada Massacre
On 25 July 1980, Assad’s special units surrounded and stormed Sarmada town, killing 30 men and women after gathering them in the town square. After that, the forces shot at 15 other people, and tied some young men to vehicles and tanks and dragged them all the way towards Aleppo.
The massacres were preceded by October war, in which unreal victories were attributed to Hafez al-Assad to whitewash and show Hafez al-Assad as a national hero. However, the residents of Quneitra city emphasize that Assad’s regime had withdrawn its forces before the arrival of any Israeli soldier. Despite that, Hafez al-Assad was not accounted for the biggest setback.
Nevertheless , the biggest and most atrocious massacre of Hafez al-Assad is not killing people in cold blood, but keeping and torturing them for years in prisons that animals cannot tolerate.
The “eternal” thought that he would rule Syria for good. However, he has turned into a mere mass of dirt after earthworms ate his body. Today, the one governing Syria are following the same steps of his father, and will ultimately face the same fate.
Like his father, Bashar al-Assad name will be perpetuated in the list of criminals showered with people’s curses day and night.