Kusseir

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Arabic القصير
al-Kusair
Kusseir
Kusseir (Syria)
Kusseir
Kusseir
Coordinates 34 ° 31 '  N , 36 ° 35'  E Coordinates: 34 ° 31 '  N , 36 ° 35'  E
Basic data
Country Syria

Governorate

Homs
District Kusseir
ISO 3166-2 SY-HI
height 540 m
Residents 37,899 (2003)

Kusseir , also al-Kusair ( Arabic القصير al-Qusayr , DMG al-Qusair , French Qousseir , Turkish Kuseyr ), is a city in the Homs Governorate in western Syria . The city has about 37,899 inhabitants (2003 estimate).

history

Before the civil war in Syria , al-Qusair had around 40,000 inhabitants, the majority Sunni Muslims and around 10,000 Christians , mostly members of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church . In 2011, protests began against the government, in which almost exclusively Muslim residents were involved. Only a small number of Christians took part in the protests. In November 2011, units of the Syrian Arab Army surrounded the area, and between April 2011 and February 13, 2012 at least 70 people died. In February 2012, the armed clashes between the Syrian Arab Army and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) began. Citizens of the place formed a committee with which they wanted to prevent interfaith hostility. On February 7, 2012, the FSA kidnapped a Syrian sergeant from a Christian family of al-Qusair. Militiamen loyal to the government kidnapped six Sunni Muslims, one of whom died. As a result, 20 Christians were kidnapped from al-Quseir. The citizens' committee managed to agree on the release of all abductees on February 9, whereby the Christian NCO undertook to leave al-Qusair with his family. On February 13, the FSA stormed the local headquarters of the General Security Directorate , killing five intelligence officers.

Four tanks of the Syrian Arab Army drove against al-Quseir in February 2012, but one tank with 30 men switched fronts and destroyed the other three tanks, in which 20 men died. On February 24, 2012, the FSA had al-Quseir completely under control after the last 80 government soldiers had fled. On April 20, 2012, Abdel Ghani Jawhar , commander of Fatah al-Islam , who was wanted as a criminal in Lebanon, blew himself up in an explosives accident.

Tensions between Muslims and Christians intensified when well-funded and heavily armed radical Islamist, Salafist forces gained influence among the rebels from abroad , on whose military help the Free Syrian Army was dependent. There were targeted killings, including the family of one of the few Christians who participated in the initial protests. At the beginning of June 2012, around 1,000 Christians out of 10,000 were still living in the village. On June 2, 2012, the local Islamist military leader and preacher Abdel Salam Harba , whose brigade included numerous foreign fighters, gave the Christians an ultimatum to either fight for the rebels or to leave the place. Also from the speakers of several mosques came the call: ". Christians must leave by Friday al-Qusair" the beginning of July the building of the Melkite was Elias Church headquarters of the Islamist rebels. To do this, the doors were broken open and the bells were rung in a public celebration, the icons and other objects from the church were mocked and destroyed.

On July 9, 2012, the FSA blew up the headquarters of the Syrian Arab Army in al-Qusair to prevent it from being retaken. With the exception of one hospital, the FSA continued to control the entire area, which was of great importance as a supply line for the rebels. The strategically important road connection from the city of Homs to Lebanon runs through Kusseir . Until the conquest of the city by government troops and allied militias on June 5, 2013, it was considered to be the junction of the Lebanese rebel supply routes.

On October 12, 2012, Abdel Salam Harba repeated his ultimatum to the Christians to get out of al-Quseir. The few Christians in al-Quseir who took part in the 2011 protests have now also been expelled from the city. Almost all Christians left the place and had to stay with relatives or friends in Damascus or elsewhere in Syria, many also in Lebanon . The Eliaskirche, now the rebel headquarters, was set on fire by the government forces and damaged on the roof and on the walls during the following fighting, which was most intense from the beginning of April to the beginning of June 2013. In the opinion of the congregation, the damage from looting and wanton destruction was the greatest, because it was worse in this church than in all other churches that were not completely destroyed.

On April 4, 2013, the Syrian Arab Army launched an offensive in the region. However, it was not until June 5, 2013 that they recaptured the entire site in a nightly surprise attack, with the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah bearing the brunt of the attack.

Immediately before the successful offensive by the forces loyal to the government in April 2013, around 25,000 of the original 40,000 people lived in al-Quseir, including almost no Christians at all. After the fighting ended, only around 500 people lived in the city; many buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. After an initial inspection, journalists described the city as virtually dead. After the end of the local fighting, the city was declared a restricted area and dozens of production facilities for amphetamines and cannabis were built. The drug trade was for the Syrian government, as well as Hezbollah, a major source of foreign exchange during the civil war after foreign assets of the Syrian state was frozen.

After its victory over the Syrian opposition in al-Quseir, Hezbollah built a power base in this area west of the Nahr al-Asi and also recruited fighters from among the local Shiite population. Around 8,000 people had returned to al-Quseir by 2017, but this was only allowed to those who were not connected to the opposition. Therefore these were mainly Alawites , Shiites and Christians. Only in 2019 were there an increasing number of Sunnis among the returnees, who returned in two waves within the year (around 1,000 and around 5,000 people). A total of around 14,000 people returned to al-Quseir from 2013 to the beginning of November 2019.

The Melkite Church of Elias was reconquered in 2014 with funds from Church in Need (ACN International) to the extent that church services can take place.

sons and daughters of the town

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Syria: The most important places with statistics on their population. World Gazetteer ( Memento of the original dated December 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bevoelkerungsstatistik.de
  2. ↑ a b c d e Saint Elijah (Mar Elias) Greek Melkite Church in Al-Qusayr. Aid to the Church in Need , ACN International. Christians of Syria, ACN Syria, February 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ a b c d Paul Wood: Syria's war in miniature: meeting the Christians driven out of Qusayr. The Spectator, August 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c d Mayte Carrasco: Death a daily event in al-Qusayr south of Homs. Monsters and Critics. Middle East News, Feb. 13, 2012.
  5. ^ On the Syrian frontline in al-Qusayr - in pictures. The Guardian , Feb. 1, 2012.
  6. ^ Paul Wood: Syria's slide towards civil war. BBC News, February 12, 2012.
  7. ^ Tom Coghlan: Defectors turn the tide against Assad forces. The Australian , February 24, 2012.
  8. ↑ In Syria, Lebanon's Most Wanted Sunni Terrorist Blows Himself Up. TIME, April 23, 2012.
  9. ↑ a b Ulrike Pütz: Uprising against Assad - Syria's Christians flee from radical rebels. Der Spiegel , July 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Ultimatum to Christians: "Leave Qusayr". Agenzia Fides, June 9th 2012.
  11. ↑ James Bays: Al-Qusayr: FSA's biggest victory in months. al Jazeera , July 1, 2012.
  12. ↑ Erika Solomon: Syrian army captures strategic border town of Qusair. Reuters, June 5, 2013, viewed June 5, 2013.
  13. Jump up ↑ Assad's army conquers the rebel town of Kusseir. Die Welt, Monday, May 20, 2013
  14. ↑ Bashar al-Assad: “Battle of the Decision”. Der Tagesspiegel, Monday, May 20, 2013.
  15. ↑ Chris Irvine: Syria: Assad forces take control of Qusayr in major breakthrough. The Daily Telegraph , June 5, 2013.
  16. ^ Syrian civil war: Bashar al-Assad's forces take strategic town of Qusayr. ABC, June 5, 2013.
  17. ↑ Anne Barnard, Hwaida Saad: Hezbollah AIDS Syrian Military In a Key Battle. The New York Times , May 20, 2013.
  18. ↑ BBC: "Voices from Qusair: Inside the Syrian town under siege" June 6, 2013, viewed June 7, 2013
  19. ↑ BBC: Lyse Doucet, "Qusair - the Syrian city that died" June 7, 2013, viewed June 8, 2013
  20. ↑ a b Christoph Reuter, DER SPIEGEL: The Family War of Damascus - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Assets frozen: EU extends sanctions against Syria. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Exclusive - Syrian Refugees Trickle Back to Qusayr under Watchful Eyes of the Regime, Hezbollah. Asharq al-Awsat, November 13, 2019.
  23. ↑ Oliver Maksan, Amanda Bridget Griffin: Syria - Concern for the coming winter. Aid to the Church in Need , ACN Canada, September 9, 2015.