Jneid Masacre

Reported on Feb. 9, 2013 but apparently earlier, this murky massacre is said, by activists, to have occurred in Jneid (Junaid, etc.), a village east of Aleppo, near Al-Safira.

This page is a stub. The discussion page, however, is not.

One opposition source cited a massive army force of 3,000 troops with 23 tanks sent "to break the siege imposed by the rebels on a military factory in the Aleppo town of Sfeera" were responsible. They reportedly took a side trip to this town and took the lives of between 18 and 45 civilians (reports vary), including women and children. One particular family (Al-Khalaf) was targeted, by opposition reports, and others mention that the victims were burned.

Pro-government sources, like Real Syria Updates, confirm a massacre of at least 23 victims discovered in "al-Junied" by Syrian Arab Army forces, including members of a family Al-Khalef (one of them a "doctor," and four of them young children). Further, the army reportedly found victims of at least three similar massacres in Reef Aleppo (the surrounding areas) prior to that Feb. 15 report, for an estimated total of over 100 civilian victims of terrorist massacres, including women and children, killing with blades, and burning of bodies.

At this page, all these related massacres will be considered together under the one offered name. Jneid/Junaid/Junied is the hard town to find, but might be either of the two "Judaydah" villages that appear on Wikimapia - more likely the south one. These are shown in red in the inset map. The other three massacre towns are shown in violet. Real Syria Updates gives the minimum death toll for each:

• "Martyrs of " Al-Junied" - 23 cited so far"
• "Martyrs of 'Em 'Aamoud" – 35 cited so far"
• "Martyrs of " Humeira ... approximately 20..."
• "Martyrs of " Khanasser" – 26 cited so far"

The opposition-activist fed "Strategic Research and Communication Centre" confirmed the last one as prior to Jneid, which was "the second mass murder committed by the same forces." The first was "last Tuesday (Feb. 5)’s one in the village of Khanaser which claimed the lives of more than 21 people in a similar manner." It would appear then the repeat offenders moved into the area from the south on Feb. 4 or 5, as they came to do something with the rebel siege of the Safira base, depending who they really were. Along the way, they managed to cause some more tragically small problems for Damascus over the following days. The deflated value of a lost human life resounds silently; hardly a peep was made outside about this cluster of massacres.

The following days witnessed fierce fighting in the area, including Al-Safira and its base, Tal-Aran, the Aleppo civilian airport (southeast of the city), Kweyres air base, and a surprise rebel conquest of the nearby Al-Jarah military air base a few miles east, taking control for the first time (if briefly) of fighter jets (see discussion page).