Foreign Sponsors Are to Blame for the Terrorists’ Atrocities in Ghouta - Ex-White Helmets Observer
Now about Syria. It's hot there. A 30-day armistice regime entered into force throughout the country on Tuesday. The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2401. All attention is now locked on the suburb of Damascus, the area of Eastern Ghouta, where the Syrian army is fighting the remnant terrorist groups. A humanitarian break is announced in Eastern Ghouta every day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. At this time, the shootings must stop and humanitarian aid should be delivered, and civilians should be able to leave the war zone through specially designated corridors.
This was the UN Security Council’s idea. But the fanatics don’t listen to the signals from New York. They have the most modern American weapons, including anti-tank missile systems. And the terrorists are rushing to the capital of Syria. They don’t allow civilians to leave under penalty of death. Everything is like it was in Aleppo. And the same dirty wave of untrue stories about the Syrian army’s brutality. They say it’s about to use chemical weapons and are preparing forgery.
As in Aleppo, the Russian command, in agreement with the official Damascus, is taking care of the civilian population. It declares humanitarian breaks, delivers food for civilians to the military operations zones. The Americans, who didn’t care about anything like that in Raqqa, who bombed it into pieces like Dresden during World War II, are now allegedly very concerned about Eastern Ghouta and about no one being hurt there by accident.
The matter, however, has already gone too far. So far that the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Friday:
"Provocation by illegal armed formations made the ground-based counterterrorism operation in Eastern Ghouta necessary and inevitable. It’s supported from the air by the Syrian Air Force and the Russian Air Force".
Anton Stepanenko will tell what is happening in Eastern Ghouta right now.
This is the humanitarian corridor al-Wafideen, the only crossing point for the civilians of Eastern Ghouta. The road is about 70 meters long. Each meter is watched and shelled. Positions of the militants and the last post of the Syrian army that's called Point 95, are 100-150 meters away from each other. Nothing has changed in this sector of the front during the past week, except for the militants’ shelling which became denser. They used to shell all the army positions, but now they mine specifically the corridor.
Ahmad Kazem, head of the Syrian Human Rights Network: "The militants are determined not to let civilians leave. They achieve this by the threatening to kill them and by propaganda in mosques so they wouldn’t even want to escape".
Dr. Kazem knows what he’s talking about and is well informed about the situation in Eastern Ghouta. Even there, on the territories controlled by extremists, he has observers. Their task is to report people's testimonies if militants violated their rights. This laptop has all the facts with last names, dates, and testimonies. It’s clear that the doctor can’t tell names right now, but he can share facts.
Ahmad Kazem: "We have information that new attacks with the use of chemicals are being prepared to later blame the Syrian army. This was said by the residents of Ghouta, whom the militants forced to join bandit groups".
And this information was already confirmed twice in February. It’s also alarming that after a long break, the so-called White Helmets appeared in Eastern Ghouta from nowhere. They call themselves voluntary rescuers, civil defense. However, they’re better known for fake, staged videos that they gladly distribute in the West. For example, as it was with the alleged chemical attack in the town of Khan Shaykhun. Or with a boy from Aleppo, Omran Daqneesh, who was used by the White Helmets to propagandize the alleged brutality of the government, contrary to his father's wishes.
Walid Mohammad Adib, former White Helmets member: "If we couldn’t get through under the ruins, we were told to say that someone was blocked up and killed. We had red paint to imitate injuries. Allegedly wounded people used it".
A former Ahrar al-Sham militant and a medical worker from the White Helmets from Homs argue whose work was more useful for resistance: "During bombardments, they would run to hide and then start filming. They said that the regime bombed the Al-Var district, but there was no bombing. They arranged it to get money. Their foreign sheiks receive money for any filming".
Now, the Syrian flag flies over this post. There used to be another one, from one of the groups of the so-called moderate opposition. There were no White Helmets in the region they controlled. They really fought here and had no time to make fake videos.
The front sector bordering the Al-Nusra Front's territory is controlled by the Hermon regiment. It's curious that it consists of former militants only. They're on duty at this checkpoint. Each of these fighters spent 3-4 years in the war. And there were 1,300 of them. Now, they’re members of the Hermon regiment, which has the same name as the mountain on the border of Syria and Israel. It’s near us, beyond those mountains. But the Al-Nusra Front fighters are in between.
"We used to be given money and ammunition from abroad. We fought here but didn’t want to destroy the country. And when the truce was announced, we signaled that we were ready".
Under the truce terms, they laid all heavy weapons, leaving small arms. They’re now fighting the extremists with it like they used to fight the government.
- Does he have any paper confirming amnesty?
Ahmed Hamzi: Excuse me, but our Syrian state doesn't need any paper as a guarantee.
Five kilometers away, there’s a small town, which used to be near the front line but could have become a battlefield, like Eastern Ghouta is now. But the war didn’t touch it. The houses are safe, children play in the background of untouched buildings. The city is safe.
Abdulrahman Hamadi: "As a former militant, I’m sure that if it hadn’t been for foreign sponsors, we wouldn’t have fought for so long, and those who’re in Ghouta would have started negotiations. It’s ordinary Syrians that are both here and there and they were brainwashed. It’s the fault of contractors’ commanders. They came to Syria to earn money".
To earn money on these children. These boy and girl from Eastern Ghouta are the only ones who managed to escape through the al-Wafideen checkpoint. They made their way through the positions of the militants at night, and the Syrian army covered them with fire. Their mother and father didn’t make it. The militants shot them.
Anton Stepanenko, Artyom Grigoryan, Alexander Pushin, Vesti News of the Week, Syria.