Syrian Civil War 2011-2012 - Societa italiana di storia militare

Atma. [271] However, head of Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) Salih Muslim, whose militia now control much of Kurdish territories,
claims that their group is not fighting on government side, but rather keeping the Kurdish territory out of FSA control in order to
protect its citizens from Syrian army response. He also described Syrian regime as brutal, which won't leave Syria until it kills all
Syrians. [272] On 19 July, Kurdish militias from Kurdish Democratic Union Party and Kurdish National Council forced out government
forces from several areas, including town of Ayn al-Arab, or Kobanê in Kurdish. Kurdish militias than denied access of FSA whose
fighters came upon hearing news of Kurdish victory, arguing that Kurds can take care of Kurdish areas alone. Nuri Brimo,
spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Party announced that "liberation" of Kobane is beginning of battle for whole Syrian
Kurdistan. [273][274]
Shabiha Main article: Shabiha Shabiha (Arabic: الشبيحة ; from the word شبح "ghost") have been described as "a notorious Alawite
paramilitary, who are accused of acting as unofficial enforcers for Assad’s regime"; [275] "gunmen loyal to Assad"; [276] "semi-criminal
gangs comprised of thugs close to the regime." [276] Some "shabiha" operating in Aleppo have been reported to be Sunni, however. [277]
Bassel al-Assad is reported to have created the secretive militia for the government in times of crisis. [278] According to a Syrian
citizen, shabiha is a term that was used to refer to gangs involved in smuggling during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon: "They used
to travel in ghost cars without plates; that's how they got the name Shabbiha. They would smuggle cars from Lebanon to Syria. The
police turned a blind eye, and in return Shabbiha would act as a shadow militia in case of need". [279] Witnesses and refugees from the
northwestern region say that the shabiha have been intimately involved in the killing, looting and destruction. [279][280]
Sectarianism Main article: Sectarianism in the Syrian civil war At the uprising's outset, some protesters reportedly chanted
"Christians to Beirut; Alawites to the coffin". [281][282] While many in the opposition view the conflict as a sectarian one, some have
accused the government of fomenting sectarianism; [283] In a TIME report, an anti-Assad activist claimed that the Syrian government
had paid government workers to write anti-Alawite graffiti and chant sectarian slogans at opposition rallies. [284] Alawites who have
taken refugee in Lebanon have also told journalists that they were offered money by the Syrian government to spread sectarianism
through chants and graffiti. [284] The reaction of Palestinians in Syria has been mixed: many just want to stay out of the situation,
some (particularly younger people) have actively supported the protests, but the PFLP-General Command is widely accused of
actively supporting the repression (Assad has sheltered the group for years). Due to this, six Palestinian officers were assassinated
between January and June 2012. [285] The Global Post reported that Christians living in Aleppo started to arm themselves, often
supplied by the Syrian Army. Christians feared the Islamists and the scenario that happend to the Christians in Iraq. [286]
Foreign involvement The Syrian conflict has been interpreted as part of a proxy war between Sunni states, such as Saudi Arabia,
Turkey and Qatar, who support the Sunni-led opposition, and Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, who support the Alawite-led
government in Syria. [287][288]
In February 2012 German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned that a proxy war in Syria could "cause a confrontation that
drags in even Moscow and Beijing". [289] Before his departure to the 2012 G8 Summit the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
warned, that "actions, which undermine state sovereignty" may well end in "a full-blown regional war" and even the "use of nuclear
weapons". [290] Syrian state institutions are regime-centred, [291] thus another Brookings scholar, citing post-invasion Iraq, cautioned
against the goal of an immediate purge of all Ba'athists. [292] Reuters suggested that the prospect of British special forces entering Syria
on the ground is growing, following unconfirmed reports from an Israeli website that SAS Commandos were conducting covert
operations within Syrian territory, operating from Turkey on 26 June 2012. [293] In July 2012, Switzerland ceased arms exports
to the UAE after it emerged Swiss weapons were finding their way to opposition fighters. [294] The Swiss decision came shortly
after the UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, called for an urgent stop to arms transfers to government and opposition forces so as to
avoid "further militarisation" of the conflict. [295] The director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy had previously argued that,
while "uncontrolled militarization will turn the Syrian uprising into a wider conflict that could draw in jihadis and other extremists
from across the Muslim World", militarisation was inevitable, and so the US should help facilitate and guide it. [296] Marc Lynch
argued the opposite in February 2012, as the provision of weapons from Saudi Arabia and Qatar was being mooted: "It is unlikely that
arms from the outside would come close to evening the balance of power, and would only invite escalations from Syrian regime
forces". [297] Lynch was correct: according to the Syrian National Council, the increasingly fierce air and artillery assaults by the
government after March 2012 were intended to counter the improved weaponry, coordination and tactics among the opposition forces
that arrived from Arab states via Turkey and US facilitation; [298] in June, Amnesty International said the fighting during spring had
escalated to "the level and intensity of a non-international armed conflict", [146]:10 while the UN's head of peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous
said the country was now in a state of "civil war"; [299] and in July, the head of the UN monitoring mission to Syria, General Robert
Mood, warned that violence was reaching an "unprecedented level", [300] as EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, noted the level
of violence and number of casualties had risen to "unimaginable levels" over previous weeks. [301] At a conference in Paris shortly
afterward, Western and Sunni Arab countries nonetheless announced they were going to "massively increase" aid to the Syrian
opposition. [302] Opposition violence has reportedly alarmed some of the peaceful protesters and activists who first drove the
uprising. [303]
Support for the opposition Turkey provided refuge for Syrian dissidents. Syrian opposition activists convened in Istanbul in May to
discuss regime change, [304] and Turkey hosts the head of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad al-Asaad. [305][306] Turkey has become
increasingly hostile to the Assad government's policies, has encouraged reconciliation among dissident factions. Beginning in May
2012, some Syrian opposition fighters began being armed and trained by the Turkish Intelligence. [307] Some countries have cut ties
with the Assad government including: the Gulf States, Libya, Tunisia, [308] Britain, Spain, Turkey, the United States and Belgium. [309]
Canada has closed its visa office but maintains an embassy in Damascus. [310] On 1 November, NATO said it had no intention of taking
military action in Syria, after it closed its seven-month campaign in Libya. [311] Sunni Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has voiced its
support for the Syrian opposition, [312] as has Hamas prime minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniya, [313] though Hamas leader Salah al-
Bardaweel added that this does not mean severance of ties with the Assad government. [314] Bardaweel's claims are at odds with
repeated leaks by his group showing that they were prepared to evacuate Syria and had already reduced their presence there. [315] The
Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood provided active assistance. [298] Al-Qaeda and affiliates are anti-Assad. American officials
believe that Al-Qaeda in Iraq has conducted bomb attacks against government forces, [316] and al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
condemned Assad. [317] On 23 April, one of the leaders of Fatah al-Islam, Abdel Ghani Jawhar, was killed during the Battle of Al-
Qusayr, after he blew himself up while making a bomb. [19] A member of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon admitted that his
group had sent fighters to Syria, while a group thought linked to al-Qaeda and calling itself the al-Nusra Front claimed for a suicide