Hama: Mawas Family Massacre

August 7, 2013

The following was split-ff from Ma'an Massacre 2012: Did the Rebel Offensive Falter?
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LCC report, December 24, 2012: "Hama: Morek: A family of a mother, father, and two children were field-executed at the main road in the city. They are from Yabroud, Damascus Suburbs." A very graphic video (saved here, like most) says "Damascus Yabrud family out of the house Moas (  المواس ) have been targeted in the city of Mork." Note: these people will be totally identifiable to their families, etc. 

The LCC lists that video and another as showing "Regime indiscriminate shelling leaves many people dead and wounded, including women and children." We see between the videos a deliberately massacred family, as their text report noted. Young girl, skull split open and brain missing, look of shock. Mother, head split open and face distorted. Father, hand injury, shot in left shin perhaps, pained face with blood sprayed across it. A fourth adult-sized body, bleeding from many spots, totally wrapped in white shroud. These are in the bed of a rebel pickup truck, still bleeding. The next video (stills at right) shows the girl's brain on the ground at the tailgate of this truck, with just enough seen to say it's the same family. And there's a shot up family car next to it, license plate shown, armed rebels all over.

So ... Regime forces shot their car as they fled ... from something. They may have been carrying their own pre-wrapped martyr of prior violence, hoping to escape and also bury them. They then slaughtered them with blades, and just left the bodies for the rebel advance to find and secure. Sounds like typical alleged regime barbarity in rebel country - especially at the start, with loaded cars involved. Were they actually fleeing Ma'an or the other villages? The scenery is unclear (on a dirt road or lot, grass on the edge...). These head wounds ... they often seem to be an ailment of the Alawi, who might flee rebel-held areas of Damascus to their old village or town in Hama... and then flee again when rebels caught up. They fled a lot but in the end, rebels had their corpses.

The given name Al-Moas (  المواس ) has no dead on 12-24 in the VDC database, but a 'defected' sergeant of that name (someone held his ID card up once) from Idlib died 5 days later in clashes against regime forces. 

Looking from another direction, the day's victims were eventually found there:  a total of nine victims from Yebroud, Damascus suburbs, died in Hama: Mourek - more than could fit in that car. 3 men, 3 women (one listed as a man), 1  boy, 2 girls - most are named Mawas (مواس - same as above minus the al prefix) and all have the note "field-executed Family at the main road in the city." The entries link to the 2 videos above plus another showing a woman dead in the backseat of the same Saba car. Mahmoud Satof Mawas has a photo as seen dead in the truck. By names, one victim is his brother and one girl his daughter, and one woman - Obedeh - is specified as his wife, and as a man)