Committee documents al-Shaitat massacre in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Families of victims and political parties formed a 25-member committee in order to document victims of al-Shaitat massacre committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, in the summer of 2015.
During a preparatory meeting on Thursday in the city of Abu Hamam, in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, members of the committee were named in order to recall the hundreds of victims of the massacre committed by ISIS militants on August 8th and 9th of 2015.
The preparatory meeting was attended by families of the victims, representatives of the Independent Arab Movement and the Founding Committee of the Assembly of the People of Abu Kamal and its Democratic Countryside.
In the summer of 2015, ISIS sentenced each person over 14 of the people of the clan to death and confiscated their lands, houses, and kidnapped their women.
Al-Shaitat clan, which belongs to al-Akidat tribe, are spread throughout Syria and the Arabian Peninsula and it is one of its most prominent clans.
Recalling al-Shaitat Massacre aims to stress the necessity of fighting extremism, dry up its sources, and end its sleeper cells, Said Ra’id Naqeshbandi, member of the political office of the Independent Arab Movement, said according to the official site of the Independent Arab Movement.
“And to emphasize the unity of blood among all communities in the area in countering terrorism, as the blood that was shed of Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Syriacs, and Yezidis against ISIS, the most dangerous group mankind knew, is evidence of the unity of the destiny of the people of the region in facing dangers,” Naqeshbandi added.
Although there have not been accurate documentations and statistics of the number of victims so far, the Violations Documentation Center in northern Syria and those well-informed about mass graves estimated the number at about 700.
However, other people from the clan say that it exceeds 1,700 children, women, and men, and in addition about 150,000 people fled the area.
“Having areas of north and east Syria between the risks of Turkish and Iranian occupations “prompts us to stress the need for solidarity among all communities of the region and to work for their political stability and development,” Said Inad al-Sale, member of the Assembly of the People of Abu Kamal.
This will be paid in order to “dry up the sources of terrorism and sleeper cells of the extremist ISIS,” he added.