File image.
Syria’s new Islamist-led Interim Government is working to seal off the coast, likely in an attempt to restrict the movement of Alawites who make up the majority of the population in the strategic region.
A government crackdown against an Alawite uprising on the coast last March left more than 1,400 civilians from the ethno-religious minority group dead. Since then, violations against Alawites have continued. Killings and abductions are still being reported on a regular basis.
With the start of August, the military and security forces began dispatching reinforcements to the coast for unclear reasons.
A report published by Israel’s Alma Research and Education Center on August 8 revealed three formations of the military deployed on the coast: the 84th Division, partly made up of foreign jihadists with no clear command; The 56th Division, a newly-formed unit commanded by Munir al-Sheikh a veteran of al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front; The 82nd Division, another newly-formed unit that is commanded by Muhammad Halabi a key figure of Ansar al-Tawhid, a terrorist group with past links to ISIS.
On August 17, the military said that its naval forces were “redeployed” to seal Syrian waters. Video footage released by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency showed newly-acquired speed boats and jet skis in addition to older patrol ships from the former navy. The new equipment was most likely brought from Turkey.
The very next day, August 18, Syrian journalist Wahid Yazbk revealed that security forces began work to completely close the border separating the coastal governorate of Tartus with Lebanon.
During the sectarian killings in March, tens of thousands of Alawite civilians passed through this area to safety in Lebanon
Yazbk said that security forces seized lands along the border line between the towns of Addabousiyah and Bani Naem, all while destroying crops to build barriers. According to the journalist, the work was carried out under the supervision of Turkish officers. A post was built every 700 meters, effectively closing the border.
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- Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
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- Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
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- Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
The naval patrols and the complete closure of the border with Lebanon led to worries among the Alawite community as people would have nowhere to leave to, if the government initiates another sectarian-fueled crackdown.
Despite conducting an investigation into the March massacres and claiming to hold the perpetrators responsible, there is still no evidence that any one was charged with the killings. In fact, many of the identified killers are still serving in the military and security forces, including commanders.
There is still no real dialogue between the Alawite and the government, who appear to be more interested in forcibly subduing the minority. This could eventually lead to another uprising. Considering the type of the units deployed on the coast, another massacre is to be expected in this case.
Instead of advising its allies in Damascus to adopt a more moderate stance, Turkey seems supportive of the current radical exclusionary policies.
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turkoid and zionist savages are the biggest disasters to ever hit south-west asia. it is questionable if the people of that region will ever recover as long as the erdoganist and zionist entities exist…
salafi/takfiri sunni are sell outs!
killing their own people so the land can be more easily moved into by an expansionist neighbor perhaps ?
the alawites need to pay for their sins. their sect caused the deaths of almost a million syrians just because they wanted to hold on to power.
i think you’re forgetting about the sanctions america put on syria and their illegal occupation of syrian oil fields. that had a lot to do with syria’s economic deterioration.
assadist talking points. the biggest crime of that alawite devil besides being born an alawite was to turn syria into a modern, stable country.
my saudi printed cia quran states that muslims should live in a sunni wahhabi stone age ethnostate. finally the gorillions killed in sednaya with poison gas will be avenged, finally we can model our new state after prime example of libya.
finally we can embrace the true objective of islam which is mass killing of other muslims. we will butcher each other so much that jew hand rubbbing will produce more heat than a fusion reactor.
stop lying you sack of shit.
bolo by ozaj veľmi zaujímavé ak by sa turecko posekalo z izraelom!!! zaujímalo by ma ako by sa v takomto prípade zachoval darebácky štát usa!!! mysleniu zdar a svetu mier!!!
usa budú v takejto hypotéze uprednostňovať izrael; v usa neexistuje silná turecká lobby.