Abel massacre

Yet another horrific slash-and-burn massacre, of families entire, was added to the roster of the Homs Massacres on March 25, 2013. It reportedly happened at a farm outside of the town of Abel (Abil, آبل - means Apple) just south of Homs. 13 bodies were shown on video, of a total 14-18, or maybe 21 civilians killed, from two or maybe three families. The bodies shown by rebels are mangled, cut in pieces, and badly charred. Rebel experts claimed they had previously been stabbed, smashed in the head with rocks, and slaughtered, with signs of at least one sliced throat and one severed head. The unfortunate victims reportedly ranged up to 70 years old, included women, and included four young children aged 1, 2, 3, and 9.

Despite the small death toll (compared to most massacres we've opted to cover here), several factors make this well worth attempting to understand; the pain and horror the victims must have suffered, the sad fact that monsters like this continue to plague Syria's countryside as the conflict enters its third year, and that they apparently repeated the feat four days later, again just outside Abel. A further eight people, apparently all adult and perhaps all male, were reported dead this time. The remains of perhaps that many can be seen, visibly dismembered or beheaded, and torched.

There are many such things worth such a "closer look," and we few members don't always have the time, stomach, or nerve for more than a few. So, no promises. Until this stub page is filled in, see the discussion page for what we manage to pull together.

Puzzling Questions
The location and timing are troubling. Abel is 7 kilometers south of the rebel hotbed of Baba Amr/Amro, in the south of Homs. Rebels were fully chased from there, by pro-government reports, by March 24, falling back to wherever. And rebels in this natural fall-back spot were the first to find these bodies on the 25th, and film them for shock and propaganda value, already identified the same day "by relatives." It was the first news report in five days from the opposition Baba Amro News. That they got another scoop with a repeat on the 29th, as rebels remained dug-in in the area, only adds to this troubling subtext.

Consider also the strange opposition story in which the victims and/or images of them changed hands between rebel and pro-government forces. According to the main story proposed, local Alawite Shabiha captured the members of the Al-Ahmed and Al-Mahmoud families, forced them to claim on video that they had just been rescued from "armed gangs," and then commenced the torture and slaughter. Then rebels defeated the Shabiha or chased them away, found the bodies, and perhaps found the coerced videos on the killed killers (not explained clearly). These videos have not been shared yet that we know of; only one available image so far claims to prove that: a heavy-set older woman, shown looking utterly doomed before death (inset, above), and also, they seem pretty sure, the same woman as one of the charred bodies.

Precisely which Shi'ite villains were responsible for the killings is not entirely clear from the Sunni opposition reports. Baba Amro News reported "the regime’s shabiha attempted to storm Abel village in the suburbs of Homs, and the Free Syrian Army fought them back. As the shabiha were withdrawing from the area," they committed the massacre, and hastily left the bodies behind for rebels to find. The March 29 follow-on massacre was blamed by activists on "Assad gangs and Hezbollah forces who took control of the farmlands."In fact, it was the second one in a week by the same parties, that rebels had direct proof of, anyway. Suggested here is a plastic interchangeablity between (Alawi/Shia) Shabiha and (shia) Hezbollah in the Sunni extremist cosmology.

After the second set of bodies was freely filmed by opposition cameras on the 29th, the Local Coordinating Committees explained "it is known that the district is under regime forces control." It is at least as known that rebels are consistently able to film bodies in the exact kill zones in this "district," as soon as the burning is done. These two alleged facts sit strangely side-by-side, and only one of them is backed up by video proof.

Prior Abel Massacres
There was at least one prior massacre in Abel, on February 27, 2012 according to opposition reports. (see section on the Homs Massacres page). 64-68 victims, reportedly all adult males, found executed by gunshot and "cutting weapons" near Abel, just south of Homs. Opposition reports say they were citizens of Baba Amr fleeing the shelling, killed by regime forces. The Red Crescent this time recovered the bodies and delivered them to the hospital, with no rebel videos, it seems. However, like the later case, this incident coincided with a rebel loss in Baba Amr. Just as the area was announced clear of rebels the day before the 2013 massacre, it was on the day after the 2012, Feb. 28, massacre that Baba Amr was declared clear. Retreating, enraged rebel brigades of Baba Amr are likely suspects in both cases.