Syria’s fourth-largest metropolis, Hama, which the military on Thursday admitted it misplaced management of after an Islamist-led insurgent advance, was the scene within the Nineteen Eighties of a bloodbath that is still among the many darkest chapters within the nation’s historical past.
Round 210 kilometres (130 miles) north of the capital Damascus, Hama is strategic due to its location between Syria’s second metropolis Aleppo — which rebels took on December 1 — and Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad’s energy base.
Town, with a inhabitants of about a million, is predominantly Sunni Muslim but additionally has a minority from the Alawite sect of Shiite Islam, to which Assad belongs. His household has dominated Syria for over 5 many years.
Like different Syrian cities, Hama rebelled in 2011 in opposition to Assad after the federal government’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, triggering a civil struggle that drew in international powers and jihadists.
At the moment, tons of of 1000’s of individuals took to the streets of Hama, the place authorities troops had been absent, and ambassadors from the US and France arrived to fulfill the demonstrators, sparking authorities anger.
On July 31 of that yr troops started a significant offensive in opposition to the town, killing no less than 139 folks in line with opposition teams.
– ‘Butcher of Hama’ –
Many years earlier, in February 1982, a far bloodier crackdown occurred after an rebellion by the Muslim Brotherhood. The group was on the time the primary opposition to then-president Hafez al-Assad, father of the present president, and carried out a number of assaults.
In February 1982 Brotherhood members killed cadres of the ruling Baath Social gathering in Hama, triggering brutal reprisals throughout a army offensive to quell the rebellion utilizing artillery and tanks.
Numerous sources estimate the deaths between 10,000 and 40,000 within the besieged and remoted metropolis over about one month.
Hafez al-Assad’s brother, Rifaat, carried out the repression as head of the “Defence Brigades”, an elite pressure of the authorities.
The motion earned him the nickname, “Butcher of Hama”.
In March this yr, the workplace of Switzerland’s lawyer common mentioned it was charging Rifaat al-Assad with “ordering homicides, acts of torture, merciless therapies and unlawful detentions”.
His alleged “struggle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity”, it mentioned, had been dedicated “in his capability as commander of the defence brigades… and commander of operations in Hama”.
They befell “throughout the context of the armed battle and the widespread and systematic assault launched in opposition to the inhabitants of the town of Hama”, it mentioned.
– Treasured heritage –
Regardless of its darkish historical past, Hama is understood for its waterwheels, often known as “norias”, that are the town’s principal attraction alongside the Orontes River.
Developed in medieval occasions, they introduced water to the town’s gardens, tub homes, mosques and wells.
UNESCO, the United Nations world heritage physique, calls them “distinctive, not solely on the Orontes and in Syria, however in all probability in the complete world.”
