Syria: Eye-witness account of Talkalakh siege

Akkar, Asharq Al-Awsat – Syrian security forces descended on the Syrian city of Talkalakh, near the border with Lebanon, earlier this week, carrying out what has been described as a “brutal crackdown” against the city and its residents.  Syrian forces reportedly indiscriminately shelled the domestic district of Talkalakh for a number of days.  According to a Syrian political activist who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat during the Syrian military campaign against the city, “Talkalakh is witnessing an ugly siege to punish its inhabitants because 20 soldiers defected from the Syrian army and sought refuge inside the city”.

Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with a number of Syrians who were fleeing the fighting in the Wadi Khaled border region along the Syrian – Lebanese border.  The Syrians refugees seemed afraid to talk about the situation in Talkalakh, but expressed their concern for the fate of their friends and loved-ones trapped inside the besieged city, particularly as they were unable to contact with them due to the suffocating siege and the communications blackout imposed on Talkalakh.

However one Syrian refugee, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, described what was happening in Talkalakh as being tantamount to “attempted murder, suppression and destruction”. He stressed that “the security forces and the Shabiha [militia] loyal to al-Assad are looting people’s homes and then setting fire to them to conceal their shameful acts, including the house of Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Akkari, a prominent Talkalakh elder”. He also pointed out that “the security forces are imposing a continuous curfew on the city, which prevents people from leaving their houses to buy food and bread, whilst supplies are running low.”  The Talkalakh refugee also claimed that “snipers lie in wait for passers-by and kill them in a strict security attempt to terrorize the residents and encourage them to hand over the army dissidents”.

The Syrian activist told Asharq Al-Awsat that he had taken the difficult decision to flee Talkalakh for Lebanon in fear for his life, adding that he had only managed to escape the besieged city under the cover of darkness.  The Syrian political activist said “I escaped with some of my friends at night despite the heavy bombardment being carried out across Talkalakh and part of the border region between Syria and Lebanon. We managed to cross the border despite our fears that we would be blown up by land mines. We were able to escape after an hour-long walk, until we arrived at the house of one of my relatives”. He added that “residents are unable to flee to Lebanon because of the intensification of the bombing campaign; the tanks are besieging every outlet, and they have imposed security checkpoints everywhere…as a result of this many people are dying in their homes because they cannot be rescued and provided with medical treatment”.

The Syrian political activist, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, revealed that “the Talkalakh siege began with some members of the [Syrian] army defecting and seeking refuge amongst the residents of the town. The army and the security forces learned from their informers that these individuals were based there, so they made preparations for a brutal assault upon the city”. He added that “Talkalakh endured two brutal nights, which saw the security forces cut electricity, communications and water supplies, prompting most people to flee to more secure villages nearby. Afterwards, the army troops mobilized with the Shabiha from neighboring villages and began their assault, but they were met with a violent response from the soldiers who had defected. A battle broke out between the [Syrian] security forces, the army, and the Shabiha on the one hand, and dozens of soldiers from the Free Syrian Army on the other.”

The source also revealed that “the army forces threatened Talkalakh’s residents via their loudspeakers and informants. They threatened that the army was ready to turn Talkalakh on its head if the defecting officers and soldiers did not hand themselves over in a matter of hours”.

The Syrian activist stressed that “the army carried out an indiscriminate bombing campaign across Talkalakh, and utilized around 500 machine guns and heavy artillery.  A woman named Hind Hamadi and her young daughter were martyred as a result of an artillery shell hitting their home, after reinforcements including a large number of tanks and anti-aircraft weaponry were drafted in. This was followed by another tank shell landing on the house of the Hamadi family, resulting in severe injuries to all those inside. The wife of the owner of the house and her five children were taken to a hospital outside the city because the National Hospital in Talkalakh refused to admit them. Then the residents announced that the army defectors had undertaken a “strategic withdrawal” [from Talkalakh] to ensure the safety of the citizens, and so as not to give the army and the Shabiha [militia] a pretext to attack them. However, the army and its forces continued to terrorize the city’s residents and besiege their homes”.

He added “the army and the Shabiha [militia] searched homes, accompanied by the Mayor of Talkalakh, and entered every district in search of the wanted men or perhaps evidence of weaponry. At the same time, the Shabiha indiscriminately fired upon people’s houses to prevent them from coming out onto the streets to protest”.

Syrian troops ultimately detained at least 27 people in the border village of Talkalakh, whilst they also reportedly set fire to the homes of nine activists who were on the run.  The official Syrian state-run news agency SANA confirmed the arrests in Talkalakh, claiming that those detained were “terrorists” involved in arms-and-drugs-smuggling.  The Syrian regime has maintained, since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March, that it is the result of “armed gangs” acting on behalf of a “foreign conspiracy”, something that the hundreds of thousands of Syrian protesters have strongly denied.