Sunni markets in the Alawite neighborhoods of the city of homs are flourishing again after The fall of Khalidiya last July.
Sources
from al-Nuzha and al-Hadhara, pro-Assad neighborhoods, assured that huge
numbers of the stolen goods from Khalidiya were invaded the Sunni markets.
''Even
the electricity cables were stolen, everything, everything'' Zaman Alwasl
source said
A
female activist, calling herself Yam al-Homsi, secretly filmed the market:
"I pretended I wanted to buy a cheap laptop. The market has everything you
can imagine; from Adidas trainers to furniture," she said to Telegraph.
"They
even took the doors, tiles and electric cables from the homes. The Shabiha are
organised: some loot the houses, whilst others sell the goods. They are not
ashamed. One man told me it was a 'gift from the war'."
After
each campaign, however, Alawite civilians and loyalist paramilitaries from the
National Defence Force have stormed the newly recaptured towns and villages,
looting Sunni homes and often setting them on fire, with the apparent aim of
ensuring that the owners have nothing left to return to.
Most
of the Sunnis of Talkalakh have now fled, but those who have stayed are being
given incentives to leave. Alawite businessmen from neighborhing villages are
offering to buy the homes of Sunnis, on the condition that they leave:
"They come up to people and say 'we can buy your house. You need the money
and why do you want to stay in this village? It's better to get out',"
said one man speaking by phone from Talkalakh.
The
attacks have not been discouraged by the government. Residents say the Syrian
army has watched the looters from the sidelines, and in some cases helped them.
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