Syrian militiamen complicate blame game

1 Jun 2012, 5:12 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Facing international outrage over the killings, Damascus launched its own investigation into the deaths and announced that special prayers for the victims would be held at mosques across the country on Friday. (AAP)

Facing international outrage over the killings, Damascus launched its own investigation into the deaths and announced that special prayers for the victims would be held at mosques across the country on Friday. (AAP)

Pro-regime militiamen are believed to be carrying out some of Syria's worst atrocities, making it difficult to directly pin the blame on the president.

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The swaggering gunmen operate as hired muscle for the Syrian regime, clutching rifles and daggers as they sweep through towns and villages, sometimes after regular military troops have pulled back.

Recruited from the ruling elite's Alawite sect, the pro-regime militiamen known as "shabiha" are believed to be carrying out some of the most ghastly attacks of the Syrian uprising, allowing President Bashar Assad's government to deny direct responsibility for the crimes.

The UN says there are strong suspicions that pro-Assad fighters were responsible for at least some of the carnage during a weekend massacre in Houla, bringing fresh attention to the shadowy fighters who appear to be taking on a bigger role in Syria's bloody conflict.

More than 100 people were killed in the massacre, many of them women and children who were gunned down in their homes. Damascus has unequivocally denied any role, blaming the slaughter on terrorists - the same term it uses for rebel forces in the country.

Many Syrians say the shabiha are more terrifying than the army and security forces, whose tactics include shelling residential neighbourhoods and firing on protesters. The gunmen, they say, are deployed specifically to brutalise and intimidate Assad's opponents.

Even if the shabiha are responsible for Houla, however, there is no clear evidence that the regime ordered the massacre.

There is no obvious chain of command from the regime to the shabiha, and it is difficult to assign blame for much of the country's bloodshed because the violence has become so widespread and chaotic.

Mousab Alhamadee, an activist based in the central province of Hama, said the shabiha appear to be operating increasingly as rogue elements, without direct orders from on high.

"The shabiha are more and more out of government control," he said, and said the Houla massacre appeared to be a case in point.

"This massacre embarrassed the regime a lot," he said. "The regime tries to avoid such crimes because of pressures from the international community and Russia."

Still, the links with the regime remain strong. Alhamadee said he notices shabiha in areas that are newly taken over by government troops.

"They move behind the troops, and their jobs is to rob and loot," he said.

The presence of shabiha is exacerbating dangerous sectarian tensions in Syria, where Alawite dominance has bred smouldering resentment.

Sunnis make up most of Syria's 22 million people, as well as the backbone of the opposition. The opposition insists the movement is entirely secular, but some reports suggest religious tensions are boiling over.

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Your Comments

Houla massacre

Truther - from Sydney, 12 months ago

Reading through this article, Its clear that the Zionist media is hesitant to report the truth. The western-backed rebel gunmen are behind the Houla massacre.

Propaganda works both ways

Truth Sceptic - from brisbane, 12 months ago

Russia's continued support for Assad "is going to help contribute to a civil war", Clinton warned. Yes well just like Libya the US will use the divide and conquer tactic. This whole situation is terrible from a humanitarian standpoint but the reality is that this is not about civilians it is about control over the arab peninsula. Russia and china wont back down because they see the US and its allies as covertly instigating unrest in countries that do not "fall in line" with their policy.

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