(IN FRENCH)

Le spectre complexe de l’insurrection syrienne

La vidéo (ci-dessus) qui accompagne ce texte, publiée le 4 août 2012 sur YouTube, marque la naissance officielle de la katiba Farouq al-Shamal (ou Farouq du Nord). Dirigée par Abdullah Auda, un premier lieutenant originaire de Deraa qui déserta en juin 2011, cette brigade est active à la frontière turco-syrienne.

Regardez le générique de début: le blason. Voyez le logo sur les T-shirts. Ecoutez la musique d’ouverture. Voici une deuxième et une troisième vidéo, déjà publiées sur ce site. Elles montrent la brigade Farouq en action, dans la région de Homs. 

La naissance de Farouq al-Shamal, au mois de juillet 2012, marque l’émergence d’un phénomène nouveau dans le conflit syrien, vieux de plus d’un an et demi déjà. Des groupes rebelles puissants, auparavant associés à une ville ou à une région en particulier, et actifs exclusivement au niveau local ou régional, développent désormais un réseau d’ambition nationale. Ce phénomène complexifie davantage la dynamique de l’insurrection syrienne et montre la fluidité de la situation sur le terrain. C’est le bataillon mère d’al-Farouq, dominant à Homs, qui enfanta de Farouq al-Shamal, bien plus au nord.

Ce développement, avec effet boule de neige, n’est pas sans conséquences. Pour en savoir plus, lisez l’article qui vient de paraître dans La Libre Belgique d’aujourd’hui, sur papier, ou sur votre écran.

Ce phénomène d’expansion de certains groupes rebelles syriens a également été abordé par le chercheur Asher Berman, dont le blog Syria Survey analyse le conflit dans sa fluidité.

(IN FRENCH)

Bassam et Ahmed Alkhalaf, à Iblin, petit village du Jebel Zawiya, au nord de la Syrie. Regardez-les bien. Ils ont à peine plus de 20 ans, et ils font partie des 108 hommes de la brigade Ahrar Iblin, “les hommes libres d’Iblin”.

Sur la deuxième photo, un bâtiment du centre médical d’Iblin, détruit par un bombardement.

Le Jebel Zawiya regroupe 33 villes et villages. Durant l’été 2012, l’armée de Bachar al-Assad en a été repoussée. Depuis, les bombardements sont quotidiens.

Juste avant de passer la frontière turco-syrienne, j’ai suivi un entrainement médical spécialement conçu pour les journalistes travaillent en zone de conflit. Là, j’ai appris une procédure qui se résume par l’acronyme CABCD:

  • “Check Major Bleedings”
  • “Airways”
  • “Breathing”
  • “Circulation”
  • “Deformity”

Une des leçons que j’en ai tirée, et qui m’a servi une fois à l’intérieur: une hémorragie ne donne pas le pouls.

On ne prend pas le pouls d’une révolution là où elle saigne. Les combats entre les troupes de Bachar al-Assad et les insurgés réunis sous l’appellation d’Armée syrienne libre font rage depuis plus de deux mois à Alep, la métropole du nord. Mais plus à l’ouest, dans le sud du gouvernorat d’Idlib, trente-trois villages se sont libérés de l’occupation. Nous sommes dans le Jebel Zawiya.

A lire dans La Libre Belgique d’aujourd’hui.

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Photos Damien Spleeters, Iblin, Jebel Zawiya, Septembre 2012.

The fierce government assaults from the air are partly a response to improved tactics and weaponry among the opposition forces, which have recently received more powerful antitank missiles from Turkey, with the financial support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to members of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group in exile, and other activists. The United States, these activists said, was consulted about these weapons transfers. Officials in Washington said the United States did not take part in arms shipments to the rebels, though they recognized that Syria’s neighbors would do so, and that it was important to ensure that weapons did not end up in the hands of Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups. (…) Speaking in Istanbul, council members also described efforts to supply the opposition with arms, specifically antitank weaponry delivered by Turkish Army vehicles to the Syrian border, where it was then transferred to smugglers who took it into Syria. Turkey has repeatedly denied that it is giving anything other than humanitarian aid to the opposition, mostly at refugee camps near the border. It has recently made those camps harder to visit: permission was not granted to two reporters in the vicinity for five days last week. Turkey did not act alone, but with financial support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia and after consultation with the United States, said these officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s diplomatic delicacy. “Heavier Weapons Push Syrian Crisis Toward Civil War”, The New York Times, June, 12, 2012. Photo: Rebel fighters with the Free Syrian Army at a house in Aleppo. On the left, 6 50.00 FN FAL can be seen. (Associated Press)
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The fierce government assaults from the air are partly a response to improved tactics and weaponry among the opposition forces, which have recently received more powerful antitank missiles from Turkey, with the financial support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to members of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group in exile, and other activists.

The United States, these activists said, was consulted about these weapons transfers. Officials in Washington said the United States did not take part in arms shipments to the rebels, though they recognized that Syria’s neighbors would do so, and that it was important to ensure that weapons did not end up in the hands of Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups.

(…)

Speaking in Istanbul, council members also described efforts to supply the opposition with arms, specifically antitank weaponry delivered by Turkish Army vehicles to the Syrian border, where it was then transferred to smugglers who took it into Syria.

Turkey has repeatedly denied that it is giving anything other than humanitarian aid to the opposition, mostly at refugee camps near the border. It has recently made those camps harder to visit: permission was not granted to two reporters in the vicinity for five days last week. Turkey did not act alone, but with financial support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia and after consultation with the United States, said these officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s diplomatic delicacy.

“Heavier Weapons Push Syrian Crisis Toward Civil War”, The New York Times, June, 12, 2012.

Photo: Rebel fighters with the Free Syrian Army at a house in Aleppo. On the left, 6 50.00 FN FAL can be seen. (Associated Press)

Syrian rebels are being armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar

Syrian rebels are being armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, The Independent has learnt, in a development that threatens to inflame a regional power struggle provoked by the 15-month-old uprising against the Assad regime.

Rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have received weapons from the two Gulf countries, which were transported into Syria via Turkey with the implicit support of the country’s intelligence agency, MIT, according to a Western diplomat in Ankara.

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