Deir-ez-Zor ... from black era to organization, serious action-2

Deir-ez-Zor … From the rule of the Baath to the rule of Jabhet al-Nusra and ISIS

When the Baath dominated the power in Syria, it has used several methods to control the Deir-ez-Zor region, the most important of which is the policy of weakening the tribal structure by creating conflicts between them, marginalizing the role of major clans and belittling their sheikhs, granting a role to the bourgeoisie, and adopting a flexible security tactic.

In order to achieve its ambitions, the Baath regime deliberately spread the chaos of weapons and encouraged clans' members acquire and carry weapons, as a sign of power and control, so the weapons have extensively spread among the tribesmen in Deir-ez-Zor, in particular in the borders areas with Iraq, such as al-Bukamal, al-Hiri and rural areas.

'Turning a blind eye to the acquisition of weapons'

The Baath government turned a blind eye to the acquisition of weapons by the people of Deir-ez-Zor, knowing that the clans would use this weapon in the disputes between them, and would not use it against the government.

In this context, the head of the Military Security Branch in Qamishlo, Mohammad Mansoura, was arming the tribesmen of Deir-ez-Zor and al-Raqqa to the Iraqi borders by giving them security cards to carry weapons from 1980 to 2000.

Even before 2003 - the US invasion of Iraq - the weapons available to the clans were light weapons such as pistols and Kalashnikovs, and Deir-ez-Zor, especially after the US invasion of Iraq, turned into a black market for weapons due to its border position with Iraq. The clans got acquainted with new weapons, such as medium machine guns, in addition to the RPG launcher, sniper weapons, and some light-caliber mortars; The price of weapons has decreased dramatically in the region as a result of the huge amount that entered the Syrian lands.

The policy of the Damascus government was not limited to turning a blind eye to the armed tribes ’sons. Rather, its war circles began to incite young men to go to Iraq to resist US occupation,” and the borders were opened to them, so thousands of young men went to Iraq, and large number of these joined the ranks The jihadist organizations that were active in Iraq, and they played a remarkable role in the formation of Jabhet al-Nusra, which is classified on the list of international terrorism with the beginning of the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in the spring of 2011.

'Incitement of Arabs against the Kurds'

In order to increase its control over Deir-ez-Zor society, the Ba'athist regime began inciting members of the Arab tribes against the Kurds in an attempt to create an ethnic war between the Kurds and the Arabs. This was clearly evident on March 12, 2004, when it sent the sons of Deir-ez-Zor to the city of Qamishlo to follow a football match between al-Jihad and al-Fatwa clubs. And it wanted to take advantage of the football match to create a conflict between the Kurds and the Arabs, but that attempt failed thanks to awareness of an elite group of rational people in Al-Jazeera region and Deir-ez-Zor, and what the Damascus government failed to implement at that time it wants to implement now by targeting sheikhs and tribal leaders in Deir-ez-Zor again.

'Despite its richness in oil, its residents have not benefited from it'

The Damascus government deprived the Deir-ez-Zor regions of their goods, and kept the area unused and with poor infrastructure, as the region lacked job opportunities, despite its richness in underground wealth, especially oil and gas, and the huge revenues that were returned to the government from behind it, yet the people of Deir ez-Zor remained deprived. One of them, the leadership of the Baath Party has always said that the oil revenues are in "safe" hands.

Therefore, Deir-ez-Zor witnessed a wave of displacement of the young group after the year 2000, as a result of the weakness of the local economy, the lack of laboratories that were concentrated in the cities of Aleppo, Damascus and Homs, and the region’s lack of projects that could provide job opportunities for the young group, and thus young men began to leave Deir-ez-Zor and head towards Damascus and Aleppo, Homs and beyond Syria, especially the Persian Gulf.

Deir-ez-Zor and the Syrian revolution

After the outbreak of the Syrian revolution on March 15, 2011, the people of Deir-ez-Zor, who suffered from extreme poverty, deprivation and persecution, took to the squares demanding freedom, but the security forces confronted the protesters with live bullets, which led to the killing of a member of the Al-Aqeedat clan, and a stage of confrontations began between loyalists and beneficiaries of the government others are demanding their rights, and this is what happened in the town of Hatla.

Among the most prominent reasons that prompted the people of Deir-ez-Zor to rise up in the face of the Damascus government was the severe poverty in the region and the lack of services provided to it in comparison with the great wealth that it possesses, in addition to the mentality that the Ba'ath government tried to plant in some tribes that the Kurds were behind the downfall Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, back in reverse by the association of those persons with the Iraqi regime against the Syrian Ba'ath government.

With the development of the demonstrations, especially in light of the chaos of weapons that the Ba'ath government had previously allowed, and the use of these weapons by the people to defend themselves, the Ba'ath government confronted the demonstrations that took place in Deir-ez-Zor with an iron hand, and later turned into systematic repression.

On July 28, 2011, the Ba'ath government forces surrounded the city of Deir -ez-Zor completely to suppress the protests with excessive security and military forces, which led to splits between the security and military forces. At that time, armed groups were formed that attributed themselves to the so-called Free Army, while others were formed for self-defense and others were formed to control oil wells.

Consequently, weapons were used not only for self-defense, but to serve the agendas of Jabhat al-Nusra, which benefited from the people of Deir Ezzor previously heading to Iraq in order to fight America and their subsequent return, and the presence of some incubators for it in the region, and in addition to that, weapons were used by some of the greedy in Control of oil wells, gas fields, and grain depots and silos, and thus chaos spread to the region.

'The first foothold of Jabhat al-Nusra mercenaries in Syria'

In the period from July 2011 to April 2012, Deir-ez-Zor witnessed a state of dispersion and chaos after the expansion of the protests and the control of armed groups and clans over several regions, as a result of the armed groups and clans' lack of skill to unify ranks, as there was an ongoing struggle between the Damascus government and its opponents, and a conflict between Tribal leaders over oil wells and spheres of influence.

This contributed to the penetration of mercenary groups such as Jabhet al-Nusra, and then ISIS mercenaries in particular, after the Damascus government released some of the Salafist-minded detainees, and the return of some tribal community members from Iraq carrying experiences and long war experiences with jihadist organizations, especially al-Qaeda. The most important role in forming jabhet al-Nusra and organizing its work in the tribes.

According to a study by the Rojava Center for Strategic Studies, the mercenaries of Jabhet al-Nusra were able, at the beginning of 2012, to organize their ranks in the town of “al-Shuhail and Ghariba, and Jadid Akidat,” east of Deir-ez-Zor, which is inhabited by members of al-Aqeedat tribe. Sednaya in mid-2011, and from them Jabhat al-Nusra was formed in January 2012, which attracted many other tribesmen.

The mercenaries of Jabhet al-Nusra were able to gain the friendship of the clans, by preventing their members from outside mixing with the people, and to move with caution, which increased its influence in the region, but the control of Jabhet al-Nusra over the city of Deir-ez-Zor did not last for long. During the period in which it controlled Deir-ez-Zor, several clashes occurred between it and some clans.

Deir-ez-Zor city and ISIS/ Daesh ...'

And after ISIS declared itself in both Syria and Iraq in 2013, and its control over several areas in Syria, a sharp division occurred between the mercenary elements of Jabhat al-Nusra, especially after the legitimate official of al-Nusra (Abu Maria al-Iraqi) pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS mercenaries, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was eventually killed. In 2019, with an operation by the American forces in the northern countryside of Idlib Governorate, which is occupied by the Turkish occupation army, ISIS extended its influence among the region's tribes in particular through the Al-Bakir clan, one of the branches of the Aqeedat tribe, taking advantage of the dispute between them and the Al-Bu clan, their entire cousins ​​in the city of Shuhail.

On July 20, 2014, ISIS mercenaries almost completely took control of Deir –ez-Zor Governorate, with the Damascus government forces remaining in some of its security areas, including its military airport.

After ISIS entered Deir-ez-Zor and took control of parts of the city, the mercenaries killed the Emir of the mercenaries of Jabhet al-Nusra, Safwan al-Hant, known as "Abu Hazem" in Deir-ez-Zor, while trying to leave the city, and then the conflict in, like the rest of the Syrian regions, turned into a conflict of influence, conflict of interests and political agendas And the people alone paid the tax for that, as they were subjected to violations, famine, lack of services, destruction of infrastructure, loss of thousands of lives, jobs and property, and the displacement of thousands of their villages, towns and cities.

Tomorrow: After four years of injustice, the sun of freedom will be able to live in Deir-ez-Zor.

T/S

ANHA

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