Talk:Sadad Massacre

Location
North of Yabrud from Maaloula, just 30-40 km southeast of Qusayr, here on Google Maps].

Ambush
Reuters' report of October 22 says the rebel takeover of Sadad was on the 21st (Monday), after which they melted away, leaving only nine locals dead. "One resident said that by Tuesday morning the rebels seemed to have disappeared. "We assumed it was because the army was on its way. It turned out they were in hiding in the orchards and the fields and they ambushed the army when it came," one woman said, declining to give her name." Likely victims catalogued victoriously at the CDV (unlike any civilian deaths at all) - 15 names, trying for in Homs province, Oct. 21-30 - many blank locations might be soldier who died here. Only one seems all but certain to be: Colonel Amar al-Jarf, killed October 22 in "Homs: Qusair. He was "Field commander for operations in the Qusair." --Caustic Logic (talk) 11:17, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

SOHR Facebook
First I saw, Oct. 29, "About an hour ago"
 * Final death toll for Monday 28/10/2013: Approximately 120 people were killed across Syria.


 * The dead: 56 civilians (including 13 women and 7 children), 11 rebels, 6 unidentified rebels, 7 ISIS and allies, 8 non-Syrian ISIS and allies, 9 NDF, 2 defected soldiers, 21 regular soldiers.


 * By province: Aleppo (2 rebels, 6 civilians). Homs (1 rebel, 25 civilians*). Reef Dimashq (6 civilians). Der'a (2 rebels, 4 civilians). Idlib (1 rebel, 4 civilians). Deir Ezzour (4 civilians). Hama (1 rebel, 3 civilians). Damascus (2 civilians). Quneitira (1 rebel, 2 civilians).


 * * The bodies of 21 civilians, including 9 women, were found killed in the town of Sadad, which is a historic christian town. 3 civilians were killed by a regime surface-to-surface missile falling on the Mahin area.

--Caustic Logic (talk) 13:39, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Background: (was apparently off-line for the earlier part)
 * Oct. 26:
 * Homs province: The leader of a rebel battalion was killed by the clashes taking place in the towns of Mahin and Sadad between al-Nusra, supported by fighters from the ISIS, al-Khadraa' battalion and Maghawir Baba A'mru battalion. Clashes are ongoing, also taking place in the Hawarin and al-Hadath areas of southeast Homs province.
 * Information from Sadad indicates that some residents have been able to flee the neighbourhoods controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra. The families of the recent internally displaced have told the SOHR that the clashes and explosions were ongoing in their neighbourhoods. The clashes were said to have begun after 2 non-Syrian suicide bombers detonated themselves by the Gas well on 21/10/2013.


 * Oct. 27:
 * 5 civilians from the same family were killed by a rocket falling on their home in the western part of Sadad town last night, the source of the rocket is unknown. There are reports that several residents in the historic town of Sadad are injured and are not receiving any medical attention because of the continuing clashes...The SOHR urges the Red Cross and Red Crescent to intervene immediately in Sadad to assist the injured and besieged residents.


 * Oct. 28
 * ''Residents from the historic town of Sadad have reported that the rebel groups, headed by Jabhat al-Nusra, supported by fighters from the ISIS, al-Khadraa' battalion and Maghawir Baba A'mru battalion, have retreated from the town; sounds of clashes were heard in the outskirts. The clashes began on 21/10/2013 after two non-Syrian suicide bombers detonated themselves by the Gas well and the Hajanah battalion by al-Mahin and Sadad.

Other Sources
Friends of Syria Video, Live Leak Al-Manar video


 * Reuters, Oct. 22: Islamist rebels fight army for Christian town in Syria
 * Islamist rebels battled Syrian government forces on Tuesday to retain control of a historic Christian town which the insurgents has stormed a day earlier, residents said. ... opposition activists said the raid by the al Qaeda linked-rebels was for military reasons, not religiously motivated.
 * "After rebels stormed the town yesterday, they entered the main square and spoke to us on loudspeakers, telling us to stay inside. They killed anyone found in the streets," said a resident named Elias, speaking by phone. "They didn't come inside people's homes though." Residents estimated that nine people were killed then.
 * "After rebels stormed the town yesterday, they entered the main square and spoke to us on loudspeakers, telling us to stay inside. They killed anyone found in the streets," said a resident named Elias, speaking by phone. "They didn't come inside people's homes though." Residents estimated that nine people were killed then.


 * They also said no government soldiers or paramilitary forces other than police had been in Sadad. Opposition activists said the town was used to launch rockets into nearby rebel-held areas. Sources on both sides said another aim of the rebel assault was to break into Sadad's hospital to seize medical supplies.

L.A. Times, Oct. 25
 * The Associated Press reported Friday that hundreds of civilians were trapped in the largely Christian town of Sadad, north of the capital, as Al Qaeda-linked rebels and government forces clashed there for the fifth consecutive day.


 * “The situation is dire and we are worried about a massacre inside,” Archbishop Silwanos Al-Nemeh told the AP.


 * CDV martyrs database reflect the generally peaceful situation in Sadad up until recently. After the rebel takeover and government counter-assault and reports of massacres, they show one death there so far, the first of the whole war: A non-civilian (rebel fighter) from up in Qusayr. Mahmod Ahmad Bozan, with FSA, martyed Oct. 27 in Homs: Sadad, "during the clashes with the regime's army forces in Sada village in the eastern suburbs of Homs." I tried a search on the other list for "regime forces," but it didn't work, bringing up everything.  --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:49, 30 October 2013 (UTC)


 * [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=62197 Middle East Online, October 27:
 * In the central province of Homs, battles pitting rebels against regime troops as opposition fighters pushed an advance to take over major weapons depots in the area. One of the battlegrounds is Sadad, a Christian town in the province where shelling killed two men and three women from the same family.