Aleppo is embroiled in a fierce battle at present as rebel groups attempt to break a regime siege of the city’s east. Adding to the conflict’s brutal nature, multiple observers are noting that rebel groups have named their current operation there after Ibrahim Yusuf, a Syrian army officer responsible for massacring 32 Alawite cadets in 1979.
The name has been reported by several people, including on Twitter by Al Aan TV reporter Jenan Moussa and Hassan Ridha. The name is being used by Faylaq al-Sham, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Nusra Front) and other rebels.
The association with Yusuf is alarming. According to a 2003 article by pro-opposition The Syrian Human Rights Committee, Yusuf led a group of men in killing 32 Syrian army cadets in a military school in Aleppo in 1979. The murdered were believed to be primarily Alawites, although the government said some Sunnis and Christians were killed as well.
The government blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the killing at the time, according to the article, but they denied involvement.
So why did the rebels name their operation after Yusuf? One can only assume at least some of the rebel groups want to kill Alawites as Yusuf did. In an August 4 video seemingly put out by Al-Qaeda tied Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, a fighter says “we are here today to finish what Yusuf started,” and “we will kill the Alawites.”
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is an Alawite-oft considered an offshoot of Shia Islam-as are many of the country’s military and political elite. Assad enjoys considerable support in the Alawite community, but there are pro-opposition Alawites too.
The choice of the name and the aforementioned rhetoric are adding further fuel to the fire that is the sectarian nature of the Syrian civil war.
Adam Lucente
