A BRIEF BREAKDOWN OF WHAT HAS BEEN OCCURRING IN SYRIA DURING THIS PAST WEEK

Wed 12 March 2025:

On 27th November 2024, when the advance to liberate Syria began, an order was issued to the fighters to refrain from engaging with any fleeing or surrendering (then-regime) soldier. In fact, I heard a personal account of a group of the previous regime’s soldiers who were arrested by a group of fighters in their bunkers, but the fighters were ordered by radio to let them go, as they had not initiated the fight. The fighter says: “our hearts were not content to let them go, but on order from the commander, I held the enemy by the collar, looked him in the eye and said: “don’t forget this!”

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Why was this order given?

Under Assad’s rule, military service was compulsory. In fact, Hamza al-Khateeb, known as the martyr of the revolution, had a younger brother, Umar, who was arrested in 2018 for refusing military service and whose body was retrieved from the Sednaya prison after the liberation. Testament to their lack of willpower to fight, soldiers lined the roads between Hama and Homs, some even welcoming the new fighters. Only the very persistent pro-Assad soldiers continued their aggression, unwilling to surrender and afraid of their crimes coming to light – until, when they saw that all hope of retaining their power was lost, they withdrew like the snakes that they are into holes in the coastal areas, hiding out in villages between Tartous and Latakia. – the last stand of the old regime and where the Russian’s naval base was secured until their withdrawal after the liberation.

After the liberation of Syria, one of the new government’s tasks was to gather information about the true criminals of the past 13 years and bring them to justice. They requested information from the locals in each area as to who was responsible for their pain and suffering, then investigated those names and when proven that a party was guilty, had them arrested. In this manner, Atif Najib, the military commander of Dar’a in 2011, who had been responsible for issuing the order of torture on then 13 year old Hamza Khatib, was arrested. For clarification, Hamza’s body was returned to him family after less than a month of being arrested: his body was swollen and blue, his jaw had been broken, his nose had been smashed in, his eyes had been gouged out, his kneecaps had been shattered, he had bullet holes in both his arms and cigarette burns all over his body; his private parts had been cut off and he had then been force-fed water to increase his urination – all before finally killing him. It is likely that the death sentence will be the punishment meted out to his aggressors.

After the liberation, the new government ordered the army to surrender their weapons and receive clemency, provided they had no major charge against them. It was a way for those who had been forced into the military to return to normal. Thousands of soldiers did so.

In early March 2025, the stubborn old regime members who had lost their power during the past three months, regrouped near the Hmeimin naval base. They killed the soldiers who had been at the Hmeimin checkpoint and burned and hid their bodies. They proceeded to make their way across parts of Tartus and Latakia, including Qardaha, Banyas and Jablah. Many people I know, including a teacher in my school, had family members in the area at the time who were subsequently besieged. They also lined the roads between Hama and Latakia, assassinating 70 soldiers or more.

In response, more than 200 000 local Syrians took to the streets and demanded that they be part of fighting, stating that they would not surrender again to the oppressive fallen regime. While the military was deployed to deal with the situation, many new soldiers who had minimal or no training, also made their way to these areas to fight. Some of them were nothing more than gangsters taking advantage of easy gains, looting homes and stealing cars, until the new government ordered that everyone return home and only a handful deal with the chaos that had erupted. They broke through the siege and freed the imprisoned and killed or arrested the perpetrators. They kicked an entire group called the Muhammad Fatih brigade out of the defense force due to them refusing to listen to orders and randomly looting and assassinating. They have finally restored a semblance of peace, which will last until the dissatisfied members of the fallen regime attempt another coup.

I would remind South Africans of our own challenges after apartheid ended in 1994: the struggle to separate between truly oppressed and those who take advantage and the additional issues like dealing with the Boeremag etc…it’s not too dissimilar, except that here we have Muslims involved who should fear Allah and know better.

I make no excuses for any person or group, but in my limited opinion, the new government is trying their utmost to restore peace and stability to Syria, yet they are met with constant criticism and little husn al-dhann. A reflection of our own bias rather than them.

In conclusion, all we make dua for is: o Allah, appoint over us someone who will fear You and will have mercy on us. O Allah, do not let us be a means of splitting the Ummah, but let us be a means of unifying it. O Allah, forgive us for the haste of our tongues and the doubt of our hearts, and place our faith in You alone. Aameen

By: Maseeha Saloojee

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