Since Thursday, January 2, the new Syrian authorities have been carrying out a strike operation in Homs, Syria, where the last members of the army and security forces of the Bashar el-Assad regime are reluctant to surrender their weapons. Many are Alawites, members of the branch of Shiite Islam to which the former president and his family belong. The new authorities in Damascus had given a final deadline until this Thursday to allow them to comply.
2 mins
With our special correspondent in Homs, Aabla Jounaïdi
On the outskirts of the Wadi Dahab district, where many Alawites live, the crowd is exultant. Reinforcements from Damascus arrived to dislodge the last armed men of the old regime. Some are accused of having committed the worst crimes over the last decade in Homs, a city devastated by repression in Syria.
“ They definitely have blood on their handssays Doctor Ali, present in the crowd. Justice must be done, before a court with lawyers, the press and civil society. Those who have blood on their hands must be judged. »
Many saw blood. Among them, Mohamed, who has seen a lot in recent years: “ Behind, there is the neighborhood cemetery. I myself buried 400 people. They came to massacre us every time. » If the word “ Alawite » is sometimes dropped, these men want to add: “ There is no hatred, even if our own children were killed, our property stolen. They were not attacked upon liberation. »
Results of Thursday’s operation: several arrests, including former officers, as well as the seizure of an arsenal, including heavy weapons.
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