Syrian city of Hama
One of the most violent episodes in the history of the Middle East took place 40 years ago and may have triggered the current Syrian civil war.
It was one of the darkest moments in the modern history of the Arab world, says . For more than four decades, Hafez al-Assad, president of Syria at the time, launched what came to be known as the Hama Massacrenothing less than an attack on the city that left between 10 and 40 thousand dead.
Hama is the fourth largest city in Syria, has one million inhabitantsis known for its picturesque water wheels, a landmark attraction along the banks of the Orontes River. This Thursday was taken by the rebels, says .
The attack began on February 2, 1982 and lasted almost a month, leaving the city in ruins. It was al-Assad’s own brother, Rifaat,who led the artillery unit, a role that earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Hama”. It was only this year that Rifaat was accused of war crimes.
The massacre did not escape the minds of Syrians unscathed. Years later, when Hafez al-Assat’s son, Bashar al-Assad, the country’s current president, came to power in 2011, Hama and the surrounding cities became the epicenter of some of the biggest protests against the president, that led to a series of Arab revolts, in a period that became known as Arab Spring.
In August 2012, the uprisings were brutally silenced by government forces of the country, and the leader of the protests was later killed, ending up with his throat slit by the government.
And what influence can these episodes have on the current moments of the Syrian civil war?
The revolt felt in Hama has a special flavor. In a video message published this Thursday to which ABC had access, Abu Mohammed al-Golanithe leader of the Syrian uprising, announced that the fighters had arrived in Hama “to clean the wound that has been bleeding for 40 years”.
The city is still a strategic place for war, so the rebels may have a great interest in it. It is about 200 kilometers north of the capital, Damascus, Assad’s seat of power. Hama province also borders the coastal province of Latakia, one of the main bases of popular support for Assad.
Last week, with the support of Russia, which gave government forces time to prepare their defense lines, “it will absolutely embolden Assad’s enemies and discourage his supporters”, says the expert Aron Lund.
According to the BBC, a rebel commander this week told residents of Homsthe southernmost city on the highway connecting Aleppo and Damascus: “Your time has come.”
“If the rebels manage to take Homs, which they now have the chance to do after having taken Hama, could theoretically have taken” three of Syria’s largest cities and separated the capital from the coasthe concludes.
