Al-Ghouta Crime: the Story of ” Banner of Islam” Missiles

 Why the West and the US did not proceed ahead before the UN Security Council, in accusing the Syrian government  of using chemical weapons in Damascus Ghouta ?

Arab sources suggested  that   U.S. and Western missions have  had received news  on a chemical bombardment operation  , not officially circulated , but supported and evidenced  by Russian documents and images taken by satellites for  the battlefield , and the Ghouta area .

During a meeting for the UN Security Council on Thursday, August 22, the Russian delegation presented its documents  and  during the same  meeting the Americans did not file any documents that  contradict the Russian ones , on the ground that American satellites have reached  similar conclusions, and because one  party in the opposition fired  the two rockets.

Meantime, Syria ‘s representative to the UN  Bashar Jaafari returned from Damascus to New York immediately carrying  the evidence that  supports the  Russian documents . According to informed sources, the Western hesitance  to direct charges against  the Syrian government  , and only  confined to claims to expand the investigation ,was  because  of  the images delivered by the Russians  for two rockets launched  from Douma area at 1.35 a. m Thursday  .

Besides,  it was noticed  that the Western countries did not resort to the adoption of the terms of reference of their own, but to  statements  by  leaders of the Syrian opposition coalition in holding the  Syrian authorities responsible for the operation .

The  Russians said  that the two  rockets which  are domestically  manufactured and  carrying chemicals, were fired  from the area controlled by «the banner of Islam», led by Zahran Allouch ,  one of the most notorious  forces of the armed opposition in Ghouta,  where it is reported that  nearly 25 thousand terrorists are distributed between Irbin , Zamalka ,  Saqba , Kafar Batna ,Ein Tarma and al-Madameya . The two rockets aimed at responding to the ‘shield of the city’, operation which was  the largest military operation carried out by the Syrian army on the outskirts of the capital Damascus , since the start of the conflict. One rocket landed in Jobar near the old town, while the second rocket landed in an area situated between Irbeen and Zamalka.

The Syrian army artillery had begun preliminary  shelling at one after midnight  , while the tanks and infantry troops, were prepared  to move at six  in the morning towards Jobar  in particular, targeting  the positions  ” the Front of opening the Capital  ».

However,  13 terrorist battalions were  united in the region and put themselves under the command of «al-Nusra Front » to fight the Syrian Arab  army. These battalions  included the  brigades of  «Haroun al-Rashid», «Swords of Truth», «Immigrants» and «al-Ansar», and «Abu Zer al- Ghaffari», and « Brigades Jesus the son of Mary ‘and’ Sultan Muhammad the Conqueror ‘, and’  the shield of  al-Cham,  ‘Jobar Martyrs’ and the  ‘glory of the Caliphate’.

According to identical  sources,  the  forces  of  the «front of opening the  capital» which have been fighting on Jobar front, began to withdraw from the high-rise buildings near the  Abbasids garage, and the end of Fares Khoury street , just after one a. m.  and  before the fall of the chemicals,   far away from the goals of the army  launchers and artillery, while the « Ansar al-Islam Brigade” forces  gathered  in Duma,  which has   the largest  population in the Ghouta.

The sources explained  the speedy withdrawal of the  opposition forces  towards the rear lines as attributed to few casualties among the  combatants, in comparison  to the large numbers of dead civilians.

According to identical  sources , the Syrian army pre-empted operations that  were prepared by these   groups to infiltrate into the capital across al-Maidan area , and to proceed to besiege the Syrian  army in the south of the capital on the front of   the Black Stone ( al-Hajar al-Aswad)   , Yalda and al- Qadam , with forces of the second and fourth contingents of the so-called  «Free Syrian  Army”.

Observers suggest that  Terrorists launching of  chemicals  and demanding  the international investigation team to enter  the region aimed foremost to stop the Syrian military operation against these terrorists .

T. Fateh