Talk:Mahin Massacre

Start Notes
Temporary. Starts moved from Homs Massacres. Actual late November, 2013 massacre details coming soon. I ddn't realize Nabk and Mahin were right by each other. --Caustic Logic (talk) 01:21, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

VDC Records
The Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria records for November, 2013 show perhaps 83 martyrs for "Maheen" on two lists (41 martyrs from there (most or all killed there too), and 42 martyrs killed there but from elsewhere). These come in two distinct phases of death in this town, one running from Nov. 4-14, the other mainly from Nov. 23-28. In the first part, we can see the entire list of 42 has 39 of those non-civilians, rebels generally killed in clashes, especially Nov. 4-6, one a day to mid-month, with a few rebel deaths the 13th and 14th, then no more. Of the 3 civilians, two men seem to be brothers, from Baba Amr, shot on Nov. 12, and the other is a man from Talkalakh killed by "shelling" on the fifth. Of the 41 from Homs, area Maheen, 27 are listed as non-civilian, rebel fighters. These died the same days, pausing after the 15th, resuming on the 23rd, 26th, and 28th and then stopped.

It's the civilians from Maheen that are of interest. 14 of them, 13 men and one boy, age 10. Six men died in the first half of the month, from "shelling" as listed. But the remaining eight died at month's end in bad ways. First but not acurately, Fuad Ahmad Jwaid al-Awad is listed for the 27th. A thoughtful-looking young guy, he died by Detention - Torture, it says, "Date of death is not accurate, Martyred under torture in regime prisons after a year of detention, he was detained near Maheen Warehouses." This is probably connected somehow and not coincidence, but it's not clear who was actually holding him prisoner and where.

The other seven, all by "field execution" and all on the 28th, all but one adult males:
 * Ahmad Fadel al-Nafra adult male - age 45 - his body was found after that the regime's army left the town
 * Tawfeq Tayseer Mohammad Ali al-Ammar - photo - He was martyred by regime's army after his return two hours from visiting Maheen town
 * Majed Fayad Abdul Motea al-Sultan
 * Khaled Atallah Rajeh Hadrus child, male - age 10 - photo - Field executed by regime's army forces after his return to the town
 * Ahmad Shihab al-Refaie age 80 - Known as (Abo Abdulla), his body was found dead after that the regime's army left the town
 * Kamel Khalaf al-Soud al-Ibrahem age 57 - Known as (Abo Mohammaad), His body and his father's were found dead in the town after that the regime's army left it
 * Khalaf al-Soud al-Ibrahem age 95 - Known as (Abo Mahmoud), His body and his son's were found dead in the town after that the regime's army left it

The implied narrative seems to be this: the people returned after the rebels stopped fighting and were chased out. Locals decided to return, now the government was in charge, and the government killed them. Then they left the town again, rebels came back, found the bodies, helped broadcast the regime's warning not to go back to government-held towns. This of course makes little sense. Any women who returned with these men and boy were not found and are not mentioned. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:19, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Later Finds
What at first looks like another, smaller Mahin Massacre seems to be an addition to the last one. 4 adult males from Homs:Maheen, field executed, February 1, 2014. However the notes explain "Several bodies were found in a will (sic) in the town after being gone missing for about two months." That's around late November/early December. Names: Saied Mohammad Shahoud (age 60) - Idrees Mohammad Shahoud (age 46) - Ziad Abdul Hakeem al-Rifaie (age 30) - Abdo Mohammad Shahoud (age 65, Known as abo Nidal, Occupation: School Manager) --Caustic Logic (talk) 09:48, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Armoush Family Massacre
December 7, Maheen and Nabk Maheen - Armoush, massacre, Maheen, executed Dec. 7 All say cause of death Field Execution, on December 7 in Nabk. Notes: "A massacre of a number of civilians killed seven martyrs, where the regime forces shot them while returning from the city of Qryatain" VDC list:
 * Mohammad Aboud Mohammad al-Ali al-Armoush AM, age 26 (known age is slightly unusual)
 * Mayada Yehya al-Daeif AF "wife of Aboud Mohammad Alali"
 * Aboud Mohammad al-Ali al-Armoush AM, Age 49, "Mother's Name: Kerjia" (that's even more unusual - that slot is usually blank)
 * Faten Ahmad Mohammad al-Ali al-Armoush AF age 31
 * Ahmad Mohammad al-Ali al-Armoush AM age 65, Mother's Name	Karjia
 * Siham Ali Mostafa al-Armoush AF age 28
 * Ali Mostafa al-Armoush AM age 60

The entries say they were "killed "while returning from the city of Qryatain," which had just witnessed violence (VDC lists 6 Qaryatain martyrs in the preceding two weeks) that took a week long pause (next two weeks) just as this family was leaving.

A simple decision by regime forces to kill this multi-generation lot as they came home (after how long an absence isn't specified) fails to explain why another displaced Maheen citizen, Riad al-Nahas, age 35, was field-executed down in Nabk, one of "a number of civilians slaughtered with a knife by regime forces." This note, by the way, appears on 130 entries, all civilians, mostly locals from Nabk, children, women, and men, from December 6 to December 13. Is this their recording of the Adra massacre? The only exception to the all-civilian rule is Majed al-Zuabi, FSA, killed December 7 in this same manner. Little surprise, he was first displaced from Homs: Maheen. Just plain shot that day in Nabk: Mahmoud Mahdi Ahmad al-Ez al-Deen, from Maheen (photo, apparent rebel fighter with anti-aircraft gun)
 * As I soon realized, the connection is not so strange, as Nabk and Mahin are only a few kilometers apart. Duh. --Caustic Logic (talk) 06:19, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Maheen is only so frequently cited as a place martyrs are from: 111 martyrs from Maheen since 2011, all but 21 of them from July 2013 or later, with a total of 15 of those just between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, in disparate areas as reported. The late November massacre in Mahin preceding this more scattered targeting may be of some interest.--Caustic Logic (talk) 01:21, 2 January 2014 (UTC)