Terrorism in Syria

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Terrorism in Syria has a long history dating from the state-terrorism deployed by the Ba'athist government since its seizure of power through a violent coup in 1963. The Ba'athist government have since deployed various types of state terrorism; such as ethnic cleansing, forced deportations, massacres, summary executions, mass rapes and other forms of violence to maintain its totalitarian rule in Syria. The most extensive use of state terrorism in the 20th century was during 1970s and 1980s, when Islamic uprisings across Syria where crushed through bloody campaigns of intense repression, culminating in the 1982 Hama massacre which killed around 40,000 civilians.

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At the turn of twentieth century, the state deployed extensive violence against civilians, such as the case of 2004 Qamishli massacre. When Arab Spring spread to Syria in 2011, the Ba'athist security apparatus launched a brutal crackdown against peaceful protestors calling for freedom and dignity, which killed thousands of civilians and deteriorated the crisis into a full-scale civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, transnational Jihadist groups like Islamic State and al-Nusra began to emerge in Syria as the war escalated, some of which emulated the deadly terrorist tactics of the Assad regime. [1] [2]

After over a decade of war, the country has been devastated, with over 600,000 deaths and millions have been displaced, sparking the largest refugee crisis in the world. Syrian military and Ba'athist security forces have systematically unleashed scorched earth tactics on populations it deemed hostile; receiving international condemnation. These include hundreds of chemical attacks, massacres, torture, mass rapes, ethnic cleansing, forced disappearances and various other acts of state terror under orders from the highest echelons of the Ba'athist regime. [3]

History

Under Hafez al-Assad

Islamist uprising

From 1976 to 1982, Sunni Islamists fought the secular Ba'ath Party-controlled government of Syria in what has been labelled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath party as a "long campaign of terror". [4]

The Muslim Brotherhood was blamed for the terror by the government, although the insurgents used names such as Kata'ib Muhammad (Phalanges of Muhammad, begun in Hama in 1965 Marwan Hadid) to refer to their organization. [5]

Following Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 1976 a number of prominent Syrian officers and government servants, as well as "professional men, doctors, teachers," were assassinated. Most of the victims were Alawis, "which suggested that the assassins had targeted the community" but "no one could be sure who was behind" the killings. [6]

Among the better-known victims were:

These assassinations led up to the 17 June 1979 slaughter of cadets at the Aleppo Artillery School. On that day a member of school staff, Captain Ibrahim Yusuf, assembled the cadets in the dining-hall and then let in the gunmen who opened fire on the cadets. According to the official report 32 young men were killed. Unofficial sources say the "death toll was as high as 83." [8] This attack was the work of Tali'a muqatila, or Fighting Vanguard, a Sunni Islamist guerrilla group and spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood. `Adnan `Uqla, who later became the group's leader, helped plan the massacre. [9]

On 26 June 1980, the president of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, "narrowly escaped death" when attackers threw two grenades and fired machine gun bursts at him as he waited at a diplomatic function in Damascus. [10]

While the involvement of the Syrian government "was not proved" in these killings, it "was widely suspected." [11]

The insurgency is generally considered to have been crushed by the bloody Hama massacre of 1982, in which thousands were killed, "the vast majority innocent civilians". [12] [13]

Perpetrators

According to some sources, such as Syrian president Hafez al-Assad [14] and journalist Robert Dreyfuss, [15] the Muslim Brotherhood insurgents in Syria were aided by the Jordanian government in cooperation with Lebanese Phalangists, South Lebanon Army, and the right-wing Israeli government of Menachem Begin, who allegedly supported, funded and armed the Muslim Brotherhood in an effort to overthrow the government of President Assad.

We are not just dealing with killers inside Syria, but with those who masterminded their plans. The plot thickened after Sadat's visit to Jerusalem and many foreign intelligence services became involved. Those who took part in Camp David used the Muslim Brothers against us. [16]

The South Lebanese Army allegedly set up camps to help train the Muslim Brotherhood insurgents. Both Israel and Syria had troops in Lebanon and clashed over domination of that country. Syria's Arab nationalist government has supported the overthrow of the Royalist, pro-Western Jordanian government.

1986 bombings

In 1986 a series of bombings, mainly around the capital of Damascus, caused hundreds of casualties. Iraqi Ba'athis agents were blamed for the acts.

Under Bashar al-Assad

2000s

On 28 September 2008, at least 17 people been killed and 14 hurt by a car bomb on the outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus. The target of the blast was unclear, but it struck close to an important Shia shrine and a security post. [17]

A little more than year later (on 3 December 2009) another explosion killed at least three people when a bus blew up in a Damascus suburb. Syrian officials denied terrorism was involved. [18]

During the Syrian Civil War

The Syrian government repeatedly claimed that the actions of security forces against the Syrian Civil War were a response to armed attacks by "terrorist gangs", [19] [20] a claim rejected by western humans rights groups, Western governments, and other observers. [19] [21] [22] [23] [24]

At least 80 suicide bombings had been recorded in the conflict by the end of November 2012. Both the government and the opposition have accused each other of perpetrating the bombings. Only "shadowy Islamist groups" (one being Al-Nusra Front), possibly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, have claimed responsibility; Al-Nusra took responsibility for 57 of them. At least one such bombing claimed to be in retaliation for Syrian government attacks on residential areas, but also struck a sectarian tone: "We tell this regime: Stop your massacres against the Sunni people. If not, you will bear the sin of the Alawites. What is coming will be more calamitous, God willing." Observers believe such groups have made inroads in Syria, capitalizing on the instability resulting from the uprising. [25]

The Syrian government itself has been accused of terror or state terrorism. September 5, 2012 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, "The regime has become one of state terrorism. Syria is going through a huge humanitarian saga. Unfortunately, as usual, the international community is merely watching the slaughter, massacre and the elimination of Muslims." [26]

The tactic of shelling, invading, and killing, but then retreating from civilian areas has reportedly been used in several areas ringing Damascus in July and August 2012, such as Kafr Sousa, where tanks backed by infantry left at least 24 people dead before leaving according to pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. According to Salem, "terror is the basic approach" of the government. "From the beginning of the uprising the logic was hit and hit hard, punish and scare," the opposite of the "winning hearts and minds" model. The New York Times journalist Damien Cave describes the government's approach as following the saying "rule is based on awe." [27]

On September 15 2019, eight civilians died and seven others injured in a car-bomb explosion near a hospital in the northern province of Aleppo. No side claimed responsibility for the attack. [28]

Cooperation with Iraq

Syrian President Bashar Assad met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Syria on 21 January 2007 and discussed terrorism in the Middle East and the situation in Iraq. They issued a joint statement condemning "all forms of terrorism plaguing the Iraqi people and their institutions, infrastructure and security service." Assad and Talabani expressed "readiness to work together and do everything possible to eradicate terrorism." [29]

Syrian state-sponsored terrorism

The Syrian government itself has been accused of engaging in state sponsored terrorism by President George W. Bush and by the U.S. State Department from 1979 to today. [30] The European Community met on 10 November 1986 to discuss the Hindawi affair, an attempt to bomb an El Al flight out of London, and the subsequent arrest and trial in the UK of Nizar Hindawi, who allegedly received Syrian government support after the bombing, and possibly beforehand. [31] The European response was to impose sanctions against Syria and state that these measures were intended "to send Syria the clearest possible message that what has happened is absolutely unacceptable." [32]

However, Syria has assisted the United States and other governments in their opposition to al-Qaeda. This include Syria's efforts in stemming the flow of al-Qaeda backed fighters from crossing into Iraq along its border. (Country Reports on Terrorism, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, 27 April 2005). [33]

Before the Syrian Civil War, Hamas members received military style training in Iran and in Syria. [34]

In 2012, Lebanon charged former Lebanese Minister Michel Samaha and a high-ranking Syrian military official, Syria's National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk, with being involved in a terror plot aimed at destabilizing Lebanon. Samaha is a longtime ally, and friend, of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Ali Mamlouk. Samaha reportedly confessed to his involvement in the terror plot, and some Lebanese politicians have called to break ties with the Assad government. [35]

During the probe, it was alleged that Syrian President Bashar Assad gave direct orders to execute terrorist attacks in Lebanon, and Michel Samaha admitted that he was working for Assad's government in trying to execute a plan to detonate explosives in Akkar, Lebanon. Samaha admitted to collaborating with General Ali Mamlouk, who heads the Syrian national security bureau. [36]

Numerous assassinations of opponents of Syria and the Syrian government have been alleged to involve the Syrian government. Syria and its supporters claim that no substantial evidence has been produced to prove these allegations.


See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hafez al-Assad</span> President of Syria from 1971 to 2000

Hafez al-Assad was a Syrian statesman, military officer and revolutionary who served as the 18th president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He had previously served as prime minister of Syria from 1970 to 1971 as well as regional secretary of the regional command of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and secretary general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1970 to 2000. Hafez al-Assad was a key participant in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Hama massacre</span> Anti-Sunni massacre against the inhabitants of Hama city in 1982

The Hama massacre occurred in February 1982 when the Syrian Arab Army and the Defense Companies, under orders of president Hafez al-Assad, besieged the town of Hama for 27 days in order to quell an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood against the Ba'athist government. The campaign that had begun in 1976 by Sunni Muslim groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, was brutally crushed in an anti-Sunni massacre at Hama, carried out by the Syrian Arab Army and Alawite militias under commanding General Rifaat al-Assad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muslim Brotherhood in Syria</span> A branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria is a Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformation of Syria into an Islamic state governed by Sharia law through a gradual legal and political process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rifaat al-Assad</span> Syrian major general (born 1937)

Rifaat Ali al-Assad is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the incumbent President Bashar al-Assad. He was the commanding officer of the ground operations of the 1982 Hama massacre ordered by Hafez al-Assad. Later declassified material backs his claims that his brother Hafez al-Assad was responsible, as do a number of commentators. Despite accusations, Rifaat has always denied culpability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1966 Syrian coup d'état</span> 21–23 February overthrow of government

The 1966 Syrian coup d'état refers to events between 21 and 23 February during which the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was overthrown and replaced. The ruling National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party were removed from power by a union of the party's Military Committee and the Regional Command, under the leadership of Salah Jadid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Intelligence Directorate (Syria)</span> Syrian intelligence service

The General Intelligence Directorate, also known as the General Security Directorate or Syrian GID, is the most important civil intelligence service of Syria and plays an important role in quelling internal dissent. The General Intelligence Directorate conducts surveillance of the Syrian population, directs foreign intelligence, and monitors activities in Lebanon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1964 Hama riot</span>

The 1964 Hama riot was the first significant clash between the newly installed Ba'ath Party leadership of Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood. It occurred in April 1964, after the 1963 Ba'athist coup d'état. The insurrection was suppressed with heavy military force, resulting in 70-100 mortal casualties and partial destruction of the old Hama city neighborhoods. Hama continued to be a center of Islamists and a focal point of the 1976-1982 Islamist uprising in Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamist uprising in Syria</span> Armed resistance against Syrian Baathist rule from 1976 to 1982

The Islamist uprising in Syria comprised a series of protests, assassinations, bombings, and armed revolts led by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Fighting Vanguard and, after 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. The uprising aimed to establish an Islamic Republic in Syria by overthrowing the Ba'athist government, in what has been described by Ba'ath Party as a "long campaign of terror".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Aleppo (1980)</span>

The siege of Aleppo refers to a military operation conducted by forces of the Syrian government led by Hafez al-Assad in 1980 during the armed conflict between the Sunni groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Syrian government. Government forces committed several massacres in the course of the operation.

The 1981 Hama massacre was an incident in which over 300 residents of Hama, Syria, were killed by government security forces.

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2012, during which time the spate of protests that began in January 2011 lasted into another calendar year. An Arab League monitoring mission ended in failure as Syrian troops and anti-government militants continued to do battle across the country and the Syrian government prevented foreign observers from touring active battlefields, including besieged opposition strongholds. A United Nations-backed ceasefire brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan met a similar fate, with unarmed UN peacekeepers' movements tightly controlled by the government and fighting.

The 1981 Azbakiyah bombing was a terrorist car bomb attack in the neighborhood of al-Azbakiyah, Damascus on 29 November 1981. The attack was blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood which was waging an insurrection against the government of Hafez al-Assad at the time.

On 26 June 1980, an assassination attempt on Hafez al-Assad, the Syrian president, was carried out by Muslim Brotherhood supporters who threw two grenades and fired machine gun bursts at him as he waited for an African diplomat in the Guest Palace in Damascus. Assad kicked one grenade out of range, whilst one of Assad's bodyguards threw himself on the other grenade.

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2012. The majority of death tolls reported for each day comes from the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition activist group based in Syria, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another opposition group based in London.

Ali Mamlouk is a Syrian spymaster, special security and military adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is one of his most trusted men. Between 2012 and 2019, Mamlouk was also head of the National Security Bureau of the Ba'ath Party. On 9 July 2019, Mamlouk was appointed as the Syrian Deputy Vice-President for Security Affairs.

Michel Samaha is a former minister of information and minister of tourism in Lebanon, and a longtime politician and intelligence operative. Samaha is known for his long and close relationship with the Syrian government, and was one of several Lebanese officials sanctioned by the United States in 2007 for allegedly "contributing to political and economic instability in Lebanon." In December 2012 Samaha was listed by the United States as a global terrorist under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224. Arrested and imprisoned in August, 2012, Samaha was convicted in May 2015 of transporting explosives into Lebanon with the help of Jamil El-Sayyed, a member of the Lebanese parliament, and sentenced to four and a half years in jail. He was released on bail in January 2016. Samaha was sentenced again to 13 years with hard labour in April 2016 for attempting to carry out terrorist acts. In August 2022, he was finally released from jail after 10 years of prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Syria</span>

The history of Syria covers events which occurred on the territory of the present Syrian Arab Republic and events which occurred in the region of Syria. Throughout ancient times the territory of present Syrian Arab Republic was occupied and ruled by several empires, including the Sumerians, Mitanni, Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Arameans, Amorites, Persians, Greeks and Romans. Syria is considered to have emerged as an independent country for the first time on 24 October 1945, upon the signing of the United Nations Charter by the Syrian government, effectively ending France's mandate by the League of Nations to "render administrative advice and assistance to the population" of Syria, which came in effect in April 1946.

Adnan Saad al-Din (1929–2010) was the fourth supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria between 1976 and 1981.

The Fighting Vanguard of the Mujahidin or the Fighting Vanguard of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria was a splinter group of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria that took part in violent actions against the ruling Baath regime during the Islamist uprising in Syria mainly between 1976 and 1982.

References

  1. ↑ Tayara, Sarah (14 April 2022). "Never Again: Remembering The Syrian Revolution". Human Rights Pulse. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022.
  2. ↑ Slackman, Michael (25 March 2011). "Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protesters in Several Cities". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022.
  3. ↑ Tayara, Sarah (14 April 2022). "Never Again: Remembering The Syrian Revolution". Human Rights Pulse. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Seale, Patrick, Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East, University of California Press, 1989, p.336-7
  5. ↑ Seale, p. 322-3
  6. ↑ Seale, p. 316-7
  7. ↑ Seale, p. 317
  8. ↑ Seale, p. 316
  9. ↑ Seale, p. 325
  10. ↑ Seale, p. 328-9
  11. ↑ Seale, p. 329
  12. ↑ Wright, Robin, Dreams and Shadows: the Future of the Middle East, Penguin Press, 2008, p. 243
  13. ↑ Seale, p.334
  14. ↑ Seale, Patrick, Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East, University of California Press, 1989, p.334-6
  15. ↑ Robert Dreyfuss: The Devils Game: How the United States Unleashed Fundamentalist Islam. 2005.
  16. ↑ source: interview with Asad, Damascus, 12 May 1985 quoted in Seale, Patrick, Asad, the Struggle for the Middle East, University of California Press, 1989, p. 334-6
  17. ↑ "Syrian car bomb attack kills 17". BBC News. 27 September 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  18. ↑ Damascus Bus Bomb: 'Up To 12' Killed In Syria Explosion, Albert Aji, 3 December 2009.
  19. 1 2 World Report 2012: Syria hrw.org
  20. ↑ Syria claims it has retaken key rebel village| cbsnews.com| 13 June 2012
  21. ↑ "UNICEF says 400 children killed in Syria unrest". Google News. Geneva. Agence France-Presse. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  22. ↑ UNICEF: 500 children died in Syrian war – UPI.com
  23. ↑ "UNICEF says 400 children killed in Syria". The Courier-Mail. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  24. ↑ Peralta, Eyder (3 February 2012). "Rights Group Says Syrian Security Forces Detained, Tortured Children: The Two-Way". NPR. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  25. ↑ Militant video claims deadly Syria bombings By BEN HUBBARD | Associated Press |12 May 2012
  26. ↑ Turkey accuses Syria of 'state terrorism' By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press| 5 September 2012
  27. ↑ Syrian Forces Are Said to Expand Deadly ‘Hit and Run’ Efforts in Damascus| By DAMIEN CAVE| 22 August 2012
  28. ↑ "Civilians killed in car bombing in Syria". Camden-Narellan Advertiser. 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  29. ↑ Assad pledges to work with Iraq in anti-terrorism fight Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Gulf Times
  30. ↑ Syria's Links to Terrorism Compiled for the Online NewsHour by David Butterworth for PBS Posted: 9 March 2005.
  31. ↑ 1986: On this day 24 October 1986: UK cuts links with Syria over bomb plot BBC 24 October
  32. ↑ The Hindawi Case: Syrian Connexions. Background Brief by ICT Source: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, 1 November 1986
  33. ↑ United States Department of State
  34. ↑ Mathieu Guidère, Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism, Scarecrow Press, 2012 p. 173.
  35. ↑ Hussein Dakroub (13 August 2012). "Military launches Samaha probe". The Daily Star. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  36. ↑ "Probe reveals Syria's Assad behind Lebanon terrorism plot". Al Arabiya. Ya Libnan. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  37. ↑ Director-General condemns assassination of Lebanese newspaper editor Gebran Tueni: UNESCO-CI
  38. ↑ Foreign Correspondent – 08/08/2006: Beirut – May Chidiac
  39. ↑ Who Killed Samir Kassir? By Robert Fisk
  40. ↑ Syria and International Terrorism Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine blog site called cedarland Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine . Seems to have a lot about Lebanon on the site Archived 2006-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  41. ↑ Journalists and politicians pay tribute to legacy of Riad Taha The Daily Star
  42. ↑ "George Hawi knew who killed Kamal Jumblatt". Ya Libnan. 22 June 2005. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
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