Yabrud: no one’s graveyard

The amount of destruction in Yabrud is limited compared to cities that witnessed fierce fighting. It is clear that the fighters didn’t leave in a hurry since they had time to pack and take most of their belongings with them. Bags left on the side of the street contain Syrian passports, and one Lebanese passport. Although a mop-up operation was carried out in the city, Syrian army soldiers and Hezbollah fighters are still raiding some areas in search of weapons caches, and stolen or explosives-rigged cars.

Many vacant buildings were damaged by the bombings, which left many houses and empty shops without doors and windows. Some soldiers were sitting on balconies waving to those passing by and raising victory signs. Army soldiers, the republican guards and People’s Committees were deployed everywhere, mainly in the city center where the Syrian flag was raised a few days ago. Celebratory gunfire erupted occasionally and sporadic clashes echoed from nearby regions still witnessing some fighting. Meanwhile, artillery shells hitting Flita haven’t stopped yet.

As media personnel started to leave the city center, soldiers finally got some time to rest; some slept under the sun at a public garden while others played football.

Yabrud, a city praised by opposition fighters as “the graveyard of the Syrian army and Hezbollah” fell on Saturday at noon, and according to a field commander, the battle “only took 24 hours.” Standing on a green hill overlooking the villages of al-Sahl, Mazaraat Rima, and the rest of the region, one can figure out the course of the battle and how fighters managed to flee the siege.

On our way uphill, we encountered soldiers resting on the ground while another soldier was hanging his wet army suit. Meanwhile, security forces monitored the situation on the hilltop, located in front of Mar Maroun hill. “Following the siege of the hills surrounding Yabrud, all fighters fled,” the commander explained.

He noticed similarities with al-Qusayr battle when fighters retreated after the army took control of the surrounding hills. Hence, Yabrud didn’t witness any fierce fighting because the heavy clashes took place on the outskirts of the city.

According to the field commander, Mar Maroun hill played a prominent role in paving the way to enter Yabrud after the fighters “were completely besieged.” “Twenty-six hundred fighters were inside the city; most of them belonged to al-Nusra Front and the others were combatants who had fled al- Qusayr countryside” the commander said, revealing that “30 fighters were captured.”

He stressed that “Yabrud was a military and a political message,” and that “more surprises are on the way.” The army found some belongings of al-Nusra fighters, like clothes carrying their labels, “however they haven’t left anything else behind, they moved most of the stuff before fleeing.”

We headed straight towards the house, and waited a few minutes. A lady in her mid-fifties with red cheeks rushed to welcome us. “I swear we are blessed to see you,” she said sobbing. She told us how she hid with her husband Mohammed inside their house during the battle. They didn’t have to turn off the lights because there was no electricity in the first place. They listened to the deafening noise of shells, mainly in the last two days before the army entered the city, “our house was shaking.”

The middle aged couple insisted on offering us something to eat. Malak hurried to bring us coffee and candy, saying “we made provisions that would last us a month.” Mohammed owns a barbershop and he has been living with his wife in this house for ten years. They are originally from Aleppo “but work here has been better, so why should we leave?” Asked about why they haven’t fled the city, Mohammed said “we believed in the Syrian army and they haven’t let us down.” He added “we were besieged but thank God we had food so we weren’t worried,” then he proceeded to talk about the situation in Syria “kid, the situation in the country is just like a movie but taking place in real life.” His wife interrupted him by saying “Yabrud citizens are loving and smart, they love learning,” adding “we are from Aleppo, we have been living here for 10 years and no one ever harassed us.”

Mohammed kept working as a barber when the fighters were in town, “I have a very social business and I meet a lot of people, I used to listen to them.” He had local clients and was even visited by opposition fighters, “they were all strangers, no one had a say over them, they were mercenaries. I used to cut their hair and just listen, we all did that here.”

Mohammed prayed for Syria to return to its old self, saying “it is just a phase, our family in Aleppo hasn’t fled; here, we have it easier.” Mohammed insisted that we take the candy, after all there were no stores or restaurants open, and it’s considered rude not to honor your guest.

On the city’s inner roads, we met two men in a civilian car. They were two employees from the electricity company sent in to fix the network before civilians start to come back.

Khaldoun Hadda, director of the Yabrud Electricity Department, left with his family to Damascus about a week ago but he is now back to his job. “We brought back electricity at the station ahead of the civilians’ return,” he said, stressing that life was normal and everything was okay until a week ago when clashes broke out in Mazaraat Rima.” His coworker also left to Deir Attiyah about a week ago. “We are all coming back, I expect residents to start returning in the next two days.”

Asked whether the city residents were harmed by the fighters, civilians and soldiers, they answered that citizens were spared for only one reason: “it’s a rich city; fighters controlled the factories and everything else, they were content.”

In a street neighboring the church, an old woman stood in front of her big house with pictures of President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on the door. Oum Adib warmly welcomed us in. She and her husband also stayed in the city, “we had no place else to go, what can we do? We put our destiny in the hands of God, we are believers,” she said.

Abu Adib came out with a coffeepot, insisting that we taste the special coffee of Yabrud. He cursed the opposition fighters and praised the Syrian army, saying “these are heroes; we were under their protection and we haven’t left, they didn’t let us down.” Oum Adib also cursed the opposition, saying “we kept to ourselves; we knew the army was coming in, we tolerated the situation and stayed in place.” Asked how they were able to survive, they responded “we had provisions that could last a month.”

A few miles away, an old man named Hisham lived with his ailing wife. He said “my wife is sick and we are disabled, so where can we go?” Though he had difficulties moving, he held a teapot and some teacups as he roamed around between reporters. He asked us for a cell phone so he can call his son studying in Deir Attiyah, “I just want to assure him that we are okay. He hasn’t heard from us for days.”

Hisham also refused to leave the city, saying that he used to keep to himself , “maybe they have harassed others but there was nothing they could have wanted from us.” He then left us to check on his wife, saying “I cannot leave her alone for long”, but before he went back to her, he left us with few words: “we are not scared to die, I was born in Syria and I will die here.”