Pro-regime militant speaks of “cleansing” Banias
Alawite Syrian Resistance chief Mihraç Ural spoke in a video about the necessity to “cleanse” the Alawite-majority coastal region of Banias, which witnessed mass violence against Sunni residents last week.
“Banias must be soon besieged, liberated and cleansed,” Ural said in a video posted on YouTube on Sunday.
The Syrian-Turkish militant also stressed that “if required we will participate in the battles in Banias and fulfill our national duty.”
The pro-regime militant leader explained that “Banias is the only pathway for those traitors to the sea,” in reference to rebel Free Syrian Army fighters.
“Our job is to cleanse and liberate towns… for [regime] troops,” Ural added.
The bodies of at least 62 murdered residents have been found in a Sunni neighborhood of the Syrian city of Banias, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.
On Thursday, the Observatory said at least 50 people had been killed in the Sunni village of Bayda, south of the coastal city of Banias.
« Some were summarily executed, shot to death, stabbed or set on fire,” the group added.
After the deaths, which were reported on Friday, regime forces began shelling several Sunni neighborhoods of Banias, prompting residents to flee the area early on Saturday.
Ural, a Turk, has previously recorded videos in staunch support of the Syrian regime, including one uploaded in January in which he threatens “traitors” against “descending on Latakia and the coast,” in reference to rebels fighting against regime troops in the Alawite populated areas of western Syria.
NOW contributor Tony Badran wrote in September 2012 that the Syrian regime has been using Ural’s services to recruit Arab Alawites in the Hatay province of Turkey.
Alawite Syrian Resistance chief Mihraç Ural speaks need to « cleanse » Banias.
Banias must be soon besieged, liberated and cleansed.