Activists reveal how Assad forces looted Old City of Homs

(By Ma’moon Abu Mohamed; Translation by Dani Murad)

Since the infamous pictures of pro-regime women stealing blankets and furniture from old neighborhoods in Homs, and some political figures affiliated with the coalition have been trying with all their efforts and through various media and social networks to spare Assad’s loyalists any responsibility or accountability for the organized incidents of looting and theft that took place in the Sunni neighborhoods of the city!.

However, one of the images that were leaked by the regime itself for a purpose in “Jacob's soul” proved beyond doubt that regime’s supporters are directly responsible, if not the only, on all the incidents of looting in Homs and all the Syrian cities, since they have the absolute power, authority and favor in regime-held areas.

According to observers, even regime’s strongest advocates and defenders will find themselves in an awkward position after the publishing of such clear pictures, especially the one where a regime solider “Shabih” was stealing a number of computers in a bag to put them later in a car covered with regime’s flags and Bashar’s pictures in Jouret al-Shiah neighborhood, which is one of the most important business districts in the heart of the city of Homs.

Moreover, local residents have accused Assad's forces of army, shabiha and "national defense “of emptying all Sunni neighborhoods in Homs, including the contents of houses, companies, and shops which are worth tens of billions of dollars, since most of their owners have left their assets untouched hoping to return within days, which was not the case since it took them over two years to come back under the deal for rebels ‘withdrawal from the revolution-held districts of old Homs, and according to people in these areas, the rebels have protected their properties and belongings from looting, carrying only their individual weapons and bags that contained some of their clothes.

Abu Badeeh, who owned a computers and electronics company in Jouret al-Shiah almost moved to tears when he told Zaman Alwasl : “after the truce, I asked my brother in Homs to check on my shop which contains goods worth more than 450 thousand dollars, but unfortunately he found it completely empty ,and even the air conditioner was stolen, noting that my shop has been under regime’s control since the beginning of revolution! And now I work in Amman as a laborer after I was a businessman...!

And Abu Tamam, who holds a PhD in pharmacy, and also fled with his family to Beirut at the beginning of 2012, said: “a few days ago I received the approval to go to Sweden with my family, and despite being happy for that, I’m deeply saddened for the killing, destruction, looting and displacement committed the regime, who unleashed its inhuman rabid dogs to steal what we have worked for our entire life.

"After few months of leaving Homs, the medicine store I owe was robbed by Assad’s gangs and the things they couldn’t remove such as wooden shelves were burned, to lose no less than 200 thousand dollars of stolen medicines and medical supplies”, he added.

In addition to that, Abed Al Manan who works as an office boy for one of the government’s departments informed Zamn Alwasl that even government-owned corporations were not safe and been robbed by the National Defense militia led by the Shabih “Saker Rustom” .

Al Manan, the former employee who fled to Jordan with his family two years ago after the bombardment of his house in Khalidiya neighborhood, informed Zaman Alwasl about an incident that took place at work, when two of his pro-regime colleagues described while drinking mate, and in a very distinctive coastal dialect; their new sudden wealth, since one of them robbed ten million SP from Khalidiya’s houses while the other took more than twenty million SP, in addition to two Suzuki pick-ups that he sold in Latakia.

With a green light from the highest levels, Shabiha and regime’s supporter’s act in an undisciplined, and violent manner, stealing absolutely anything of remote value they could find; or even those things of no value mostly for purely sectarian motives.