The Jisr ash-Shughur massacre of 1980 occurred in

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 ...

on 9 March 1980, when helicopter borne Syrian troops were sent into

Jisr ash-Shugur Jisr ash-Shughūr (, , also rendered as ''Jisser ash-Shughour'' and other spellings), known in Ancient history, antiquity as Seleucobelus (), is a city in the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria. Situated at an altitude of above sea level on ...

, a town between

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

, to quell demonstrators, who had recently ransacked barracks and party offices in town. A ferocious

search and destroy Seek and destroy (also known as search and destroy, or S&D) is a military strategy which consists of inserting infantry forces into hostile territory and directing them to search and then attack enemy targets before immediately withdrawing. Fi ...

mission ensued that left some two hundred dead, while scores of prisoners were ordered executed in field tribunals.

History

Against a background of an Islamist uprising across Syria, inhabitants of Jisr ash-Shugur marched on the local

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

headquarters and set it on fire. The police were unable to restore order and fled. Some demonstrators seized weapons and ammunition from a nearby army barracks. Later that day, units of the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

Special Forces were helicoptered in from Aleppo to regain control, which they did after pounding the town with rockets and mortars, destroying homes and shops and killing and wounding dozens of people. At least two hundred people were arrested. The following day a military tribunal ordered the execution of more than a hundred of the detainees. In all, about 150-200 people were said to have been killed.

References

{{coord missing, Syria Islamist uprising in Syria Massacres in Syria 1980 in Syria March 1980 in Asia Massacres in 1980 Political repression in Syria 1980 murders in Syria Massacres committed by Ba'athist Syria Massacres of protesters in Asia 20th-century mass murder in Syria 1980 building bombings Residential building bombings in Syria Attacks on shops in Syria Attacks on office buildings in Asia Prison massacres Helicopter attacks Airstrikes conducted by Syria Airstrikes in Syria Attacks on military installations in Syria Attacks on military installations in 1980 Looting in Syria History of Idlib Governorate Arson in Syria Arson in 1980 1980s fires in Asia Attacks on headquarters of political parties Building and structure arson attacks in Asia Attacks on barracks

History

See also

References