Talk:Assault on Deir Attiya

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November 20-28, 2013

Locals Speak

Copied from here "Arabi Souri" translated a state TV video from immediately after the retaking of the village, dead terrorists still lying around. Hospital shown from in- and outside. Creepy. Sucks when the hills you live below contain this kind of zombies.


--CE (talk) 17:00, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

Good, visuals! And some details. One local man cites the terrorists' odd looks - beards dyed red being one feature. That is historically an Ikhwan (WP) thing - ideally they use the blood of infidels, but sometimes they use dye. As I've noted before, Utaybi is one Ikhwan tribal name, and SyrPer lists another Utaybi killed here or nearby in recent days. Same link, 11 names given, four specified as Saudi, including "Abdul-Rahmaan Al-'Utaybi (SAUDI ISSUE OF A RAT-MONKEY MOTHER)" All-in-all, "Once they departed, it was easy to see that the rodents left behind 150 or more carcasses with 42 being confirmed Saudis and another 24 confirmed Emirate rodents," most not identified yet.
Fascinating. I wasn't aware of those guys at all. Thought Ikhwan is only a synonym for the Muslim Brotherhood. --CE (talk) 14:11, 30 November 2013 (UTC)
Creepy people they were/are - ordinary Wahabbis were weak infidels to them, barely tolerable. The beards might really add something. Just the tribal names (or the ONE I can recognize) appearing means little when this Ikhwan stuff is 100 years old or more, hardly practiced since. But if they're doing the beards, they might be doing other stuff they used to. Cutting open pregnant women is one of those, and that's been happening, like in Latakia under another Uteybi. So considering the beards, maybe it wasn't so imaginative to wonder... --Caustic Logic (talk) 00:54, 1 December 2013 (UTC)
Oh, and I wasn't aware that the Muslim Brotherhood was called Ikhwan at all. It's about the right word, but may not be official. Rather, maybe, an insult, behaving as if they were those Ikhwan scum people still remember. But these guys perhaps ARE them, or the direct genetic and cultural inheritors whose great-grandfathers were in the last battle lines when house of Saud turned on them around 1920. A little f*#&ing chilling, that possibility and the thinking that would underly it. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:45, 1 December 2013 (UTC)
The word itself just means brothers, apparently. --CE (talk) 16:50, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Another report (edit: after 2:30 minutes from an earlier report it switches to the same as above):


--CE (talk) 22:27, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

The Saudi Connection

The pro-government sources identify the dead as largely a mix of foreigners including Chechens and especially Saudi Arabians. A space for the names:

___

Above is mentioned the clues of a chilling possibility - the re-emergence of the Saudi Arabian Ikhwan militia/cult of yore with the red-dyed beards. More on that could go here. --Caustic Logic (talk) 02:24, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Saudi Royal Guard

High-level Saudi military personnel were involved, pro-Iranian sources report, based on the claim that at least one of them was killed there and found afterwards.

From the first link:

According to Al-Alam correspondent, reporting from Syria, the Saudi Royal Army commander known as Abu Ubaida who led terrorist al-Nusra Front’s operations in the Christian town was killed in clashes with the Syrian army.
...
Number of foreign militants identified during latest clashes in Qalamoun has been noticeable, Mohamed Nasour who is a local journalist in Douma said.
He said most of the militants in Douma region, located in Northeast of capital Damascus, are from Saudi Arabia.
Nasour added during last week clashes 40 Saudi militants were killed while many others tried to flee the area through Arsal Mountains towards Lebanon borders.

This could of course be a sign of approval from high levels within the kingdom. It could also be a rogue zealot in the military, who defied all the kingdoms strategems to protect Syria, climbed through their barbed-wire fence towards whichever border, and joined the Jihad as a lone gunman. And perhaps brought a team of re-activated Ikhwan lone gunmen.

Cited was a reporter for Iranian Al-Alam. Here then is their original English-language report:

A Saudi Royal Army commander has been killed along with 40 Saudi militants in Syria’s Deir Attiyeh during clashes that freed the strategic town from al-Qaeda-linked militants.

According to Al-Alam correspondent, reporting from Syria, the Saudi Royal Army commander known as Abu Ubaida who led terrorist al-Nusra Front’s operations in the Christian town was killed in clashes with the Syrian army. Otherwise about the same as the copy posted above. I like their context summary these days:

The war in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.
The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

Sources

  • Jinxed: Al-Akhbar, Oct. 31 - Syria: War in Qalamoun Didn’t Begin Because It Never Stopped:
A few sandbags are all that separate the towns of Qalamoun from the areas now under the Syrian army’s control. Each town has one entrance guarded by the Syrian army, which prevents wanted fugitives and militants from leaving these areas, and only civilians can enter or leave through the checkpoints. Only Deir Attiya appears confident and comfortable with its security situation, compared to its “explosive” surroundings in Qalamoun, beginning with Rankous opposite the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, all the way to Zabadani in the south, in addition to the towns located near Damascus’s northern approaches in the direction of Homs.
Alright then, no town escapes free of that insecurity. That mood underpinning their eventual victory against the conspiracy will be more universal. I suppose this does deserve a page that's already belated, doesn't it? --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:45, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Nov 22: Syrian regime confirms death of major Naser Haj Ahmad & multiple policemen in Deir Attieh. Nov 22: Syria rebels take key Qalamoun town from army: Hundreds of rebels now control most of Deir Attiyeh, with the exception of the Bassel hospital and a small hill. http://mtv.com.lb/en/News/277071 Nov 21: 4 airstrikes targeted Nabek farms and Deir Atiyeh earlier Thursday. Warplanes targeted Deir Atiya Hospital. Nov 20: Rebels cut highway between Damascus & Homs at Deir Atiah after defeating regime forces. Nov 20: Qalamoun Media Center : Daily summary.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=583572091698594&l=a5c491a10d Nov 20: FSA Forces captured Deir Attiya Hospital (used as a Base by Regime) & Police Station.

Nov. 23 - @markito0171 Rebels took control of hospital in #DeirAttiya & destroyed 5 tanks on highway

Nov. 22 Media Center in Kalamoon - Qalamon Media Center | | | | # Damascus countryside _ | | # Kalamoon | | # monastery gift _ | | A scene of the destruction of the city as a result of indiscriminate shelling by regime forces

Press Statement
 Syrian Coalition 
Istanbul, Turkey
 November 22, 2013

After fierce battles stretching over several days, Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigades managed to seize control of the town of Deir Attiah, in the Qalamoun area, on the highway connecting the capital Damascus to the central city of Homs.
On the morning of Wednesday November 20, the FSA entered the town and liberated it, adding another achievement to the latest series of victories across Syria. Recent FSA victories expose the regime’s lies about fake advances which it tries to sell to its desperate mercenaries.
The Syrian Coalition commends the FSA heroes for their commitment to the guiding principles of the revolution and their brave defence of civilians across the country. This reaffirms that the Syrian revolution will undoubtedly achieve the Syrian people’s demands for freedom, justice, equality, and democracy.

We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.
  • Another video at Live Leak, more soldiers on maneuvers, etc. All Arabic. Title is Google translated: Keep up with the heroes of national defense Ohaws Syrian Arab Army in the liberation and cleansing monastery gift from gangs of terrorists. ({http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ad_1385911857 another Live Leak page] has the short Addounia video with a report, perhaps SANA, auto-translated. We'll have a better source eventually.