The Aqrab massacre is a contested event which occurred on 10/11 December 2012, during the Syrian civil war, in the

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

section of the mixed town of

Aqrab Aqrab (, also spelled Akrab) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located southwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Nisaf and Baarin to the west, Awj to the southwest, Qarmas to the south, Taldou an ...

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates to the north, Raqqa Gove ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (also known as SOHR; ), founded in May 2006, is a United Kingdom-based information office whose stated aim is to document human rights abuses in Syria; since 2011 it has focused on the Syrian Civil War. ...

claimed that 125 people were killed or wounded in those events, while other activists claimed that as many as 300 people were killed. Activists said that they could confirm the deaths of 10 people.Up to 200 hurt in attack on Syrian Alawite village – activists
Reuters (6 December 2012).

Background

In 2011 an uprising began in Syria against the government. A multitude of events include military sieges and the formation of the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

, the events turned into the Syrian civil war. As the ethnic and religious composition was mixed both sides had support from various factions. The

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

has numerous political leaders belonging to the

minority in Syria, but neither side of the conflict had labeled sectarianism as a major cause of the conflict.

Bombings

The UK-based pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that multiple attacks killed or wounded 125 civilians, mostly Alawites, in Aqrab.125 victims in Syria Alawite bombing
News.com.au. Australian Associated Press, 12 December 2012 The SOHR initially blamed pro-Assad forces for committing the massacre, based on testimony by Alawites held by the FSA. However, Alex Thomson, the first western journalist to reach Aqrab, reported that eyewitnesses not held by FSA blamed foreign Islamists and FSA fighters from

Houla The Houla Region or Houla Plain ( ''Al-Ḥūla'') is an area consisting of three villages in the Homs Governorate of central Syria, northwest of the city of Homs. The biggest village in the Houla region had 20,041 inhabitants in 2004 and is calle ...

and

Al-Rastan Al-Rastan () is the third largest city in the Homs Governorate, located north of its administrative capital Homs and from Hama. Nearby localities include Talbiseh and al-Ghantu to the south, al-Zaafaraniyah and al-Mashrafah to the southeast, Mur ...

.Was there a massacre in the Syrian town of Aqrab? , Alex Thomson's View
. Channel 4.com (14 December 2012). Another Alawite resident, from the nearby town of

Masyaf Masyaf ( ') is a city in northwestern Syria. It is the center of the Masyaf District in the Hama Governorate. As of 2004, Masyaf had a religiously diverse population of approximately 22,000 Ismailis, Alawites and Christians. The city is well kno ...

, blamed the attack on rebels stating that they did not believe there was a massacre, but that they thought the rebels were holding a number of hostages. According to him, the clashes started when the rebels shelled a

Shabiha ''Shabiha'' (North Levantine Arabic, Levantine Arabic: ', ; also romanized ''Shabeeha'' or ''Shabbiha''; ) is a colloquial and generally derogatory term for various loosely-organised Syrian militias loyal to the Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist govern ...

militia checkpoint in the town. In contrast, a rebel claimed that the Syrian army shelled a house where between 200 and 500 Alawites were hiding in. The next day, the casualty counts still varied but several activists said that they could confirm the deaths of 10 people. SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahma stated that "We cannot know whether the rebels were behind this attack, but if they were, this would be the largest-scale revenge attack against Alawites".Conflicting stories regarding the nature of the civilian massacre in Aqrab
Facebook.com (11 December 2012). Anti-government activists also claimed that wounded Alawite children came to an opposition-run field hospital in the Sunni rebel region of

. On 14 December, Alex Thomson of Britain's ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'' filled a report after he managed to travel to the outskirts of Aqrab. He interviewed three people who claimed to have escaped from the village to government-controlled territory, without the presence of any government minders. All three blamed the rebels, not the pro-government Alawite militia, for the killing of Alawites in their village. The report also suggested that there was no massacre at all and Thomson noted that conversations with a dozen other Alawites who had fled from Aqrab further backed up the three witnesses. According to them, hundreds of civilians were trapped in one building, besieged by the rebels, for more than a week. They stated "the rebels wanted to take the women and children to al-Houla to use them as human shields against bombardment from government forces, and they believed they would kill the remaining men". Although the negotiations to free all of the people in the building failed, a number of people were released before some were killed and others were taken to Houla.Mackey, Robert. (18 December 2012
Accounts of a Siege in Syria Differ on Rebel YouTube Channels and British Television
''The New York Times''.

References

{{Syrian civil war 2012 in the Syrian civil war December 2012 in Syria December 2012 crimes in Asia Massacres of the Syrian civil war in 2012 Massacres of Alawites Massacres of the Syrian civil war perpetrated by the Free Syrian Army Hama Governorate in the Syrian civil war Hama District

Background

Bombings

See also

References