8 regime agents penetrated al-Tawhid Brigade, plotted leader killing: documents

(Zaman Al Wasl)- New information showed the security penetration of al-Tawhid Brigade by the Syrian regime intelligence, which resulted in killing Abdelqader al-Saleh, known as “Hajji Marea” by a Syrian air force bombing raid November 13, 2013 while he was in a meeting with commanders of the brigade in infantry school.

Zaman al-Wasl obtained copies of interrogation documents made by al-Tawhid brigade reveal security breaches for the brigade by the regime.

Investigation registers showed indications of possible connection among a network of 8 people, one of them was in Infantry School and close to hajji Marea, and a relative to the new military commander of al-Tawhid brigade who followed Hajji.

In details, investigation registers reported that a person called Abo Mahmood Sokari, who was killed after giving his statement to the security office, mentioned that he heard an argument between Ammar Assaf, a former commander of the military police in al-Tawhid brigade, and a woman called Malak Ozon, in front of her house.

The main subject of the argument was that Assaf accused Malak of being an agent to the regime intelligence in order to seize her house on behalf of the brigade, but Malak denied the accusation and called Assaf to enter the house to discuss more, and asked the witness "Sokari" to join them .

Inside the house, Assaf accused malak that she and her sister called Wafa are working to Hilal Hilal,, Head of Baath Party Branch, but Malak repeated denying accusations, then Assaf told her that her sister Wafa had convinced him to help her husband "Abdul Rahman Fael" to work in loading job in Infantry School, in order to provide information to Wafa about venues of secret meetings, and when Hajji Marea was in the school, Wafa told the regime’s intelligence that information, after which the regime airplane hit the school killing Hajji Marea.

However, Malak, according to the witness refused the accusation, which provoked Assaf to show her a photo of her sister with Colonel Mahmood Shahin, who was the leader of Eza’a- Saif al-Dowleh area controlled by the regime in Aleppo, then Malak changed the subject declaring that she came to sell her house.

The source mentioned that Assaf promised Malak that he would erase the picture from his mobile and leave her house on condition of marrying her sister Wafa after divorcing her from her husband, but Malak told him that Wafa was in Turkey and her husband had gone to her after killing Abdul Qader Saleh “Hajji Marea”. Malak agreed on condition of taking her sister’s opinion.

The source mentioned that Ammar Assaf had married Wafa, although her husband had not divorced her.

After reporting the incident to the security office, Malak was arrested by Ahrar al-Sham and an investigator called Abdul Rhman interrogated her, when he found out that that she was in October 1, 2014, she was given a task number 277 by the Ahmed Saleh Ibrahim, the Head of Baath party branch to communicate with “terrorists groups” to collect information, besides that she had a membership with the party number 4184806.

Moreover, it was found that on June 4, 2014, an order was made to recruit Malak’s brother Emad Ozon for the Head of Baath party branch, and before that on February 17, 2013, Malak applied at the office of the head of Military police branch in Aleppo to visit her son Ahmed Miqrish in prison.

After all those evidence, investigator Abdul Karim found Malak and other people guilty and committed in the killing operation of Hajji marea, and issued arrest warrant against Abo Wahid Agathat, Abo Ahmed al-bibi, and Ammar Assaf, who all left to regime controlled areas after that.

Despite all those evidences, the investigation was ignored, and the trial had not continued and the case was archived.

The main achievement of Abdul Qader al-Saleh, the prominent and charismatic leader was uniting Islamists and non-Islamists under the same flag of opposition against the Syrian regime. He was one of f three founders of al-Tawhid Brigade, which led the rebel attack that seized the eastern part of Aleppo in July 2012.

Hajji Marea was hit in a bombing raid with two other senior figures. One of them died at the scene, while the other Abdulaziz al-Salameh, was injured but survived.

The latest battle of Aleppo which led to fall of rebel-controlled Eastern Aleppo, revealed the extent of security penetration of the armed opposition, which had a major role in the surprising fall of the Eastern Aleppo. The penetration included all aspects of the opposition, military, media, aid and relief, medical and legal, beside penetrating the revolutionary military bodies and councils.

Days before the fall of eastern Aleppo, many journalists, photographers and media activist left Eastern Aleppo to regime-controlled areas. Like Naeem Khajki and Bashar nahal who worked as photographers for Ahrar al-Sham, they knew locations of all fighters of the brigade.

Moreover, Amer Abo Sham, a member of media office of civil defense had left Eastern Aleppo as well days before the sudden fall of Eastern Aleppo. He knew all movements and plans of civil defense all the time.

The armed opposition is accused of lacking the minimum security procedures to avoid penetration, especially the moderate groups affiliated to the Free Syrian Army, opposite the regime, that do all possible method to get information about the opposition and its military actions like overhearing communication, sending its agents to opposition controlled areas, using local people to provide it with information by using their needs or threatening them.