Eyewitness from Jisr Al-Shoghour: They cleaned the streets of the blood after each massacre they committed, but who can clean the smell of death?
Mohammad did not know that by staying home in Jisr Al-Shoghour he was going to witness such murders, terror and blood. Until he was able to run away few days after the invasion, all what he had, was the death stories that he took to his shelter.
”I saw a woman, few children, and an old man getting killed in front of me. Ten people were arrested and gathered in one of the mosques where they got shot. Ahmad Al-Teeh, was killed when he went out into the streets looking for bread for his children. While Abd Al-Jalil, known as Abo Khalil from the north neighborhood, was trying to run away using his motorcycle with his wife and two children when they were all shot dead, and their bodies were still lying there when I left the city, as no one dared to pull them because the heavy gunfire”.
“Random gunfire on the streets, assassinating everything that moves, security forces and thugs killed wounded people on the streets in front of other people and in a cold blood And after every massacre, fire trucks came to wash the blood of the streets and to carry the bodies away. However, the blood smell filled the air, I can still smell it, and God knows how many martyrs fell down”.
“After invading the city, they started to steal our houses. They burnt down every house that they couldn’t find anything inside it. This took place in the city and many of the neighbor towns, and we are afraid that it might happen in Ariha.
Speaking about Ariha, two young men were transporting cherries in a truck heading to Latakia, when the security forces stopped them and shot them in front the of sugar plant.
Three days after the invasion, Mohammad managed to escape with two other young men by jumping over the rooftops. Unfortunately, one of the two guys was shot dead while Mohammad and the other one were wounded by security bullets.
My family lost any hope that I could still be alive, until I was finally able to meet two of my brothers, and I don’t know anything about my sisters except that they managed to escape as well.”
Heavy weapons and guns were used to invade the city and bomb it. As a result, many houses were destroyed by mortars and tanks shells. There were around 150 tanks and troop carriers in the city when I left it. But the soldiers that came with the invading troops were not aware of what they were about to do, and were surprised by bombing the city and killing not only its inhabitants but also the soldiers who refused to shoot the civilians and were rescued by the people.
Not only soldiers defected from the army, but officers as well, among them: colonels, captains, lieutenants, and assistants. Those who were defected tried to defend the civilians, but many of them were killed, and the rest escaped with the people.”
Today, Wednesday, a car with amplifiers roamed around Darkoush, where many people resorted to, announcing that the minister of interior guarantees the safety of all civilians, and that the situation is calm, and people can go back to their places. And indeed, some families went back, but many of their children were detained in “stables” in humiliating circumstances”.
Mohammad says that he cannot understand all this grudge against a city and its civilians, “our protests were peaceful, and people only held some stones, bars, and hunting guns to defend their lives. We were ready for the outcomes, but it never came up to our minds that we were about to be collectively killed”.
However, Mohammad says that they are ready to continue what they started. “We will continue our revolution and we are ready for any price, for the sake of our martyrs and our friends who were detained”.
The witnessed was interviewed by phone –Information Office of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria