

When someone is arrested, Ryhan and his team write out a report as would happen in any other police station around the world. “I don’t have anything against the FSA, but we are living with seven different battalions in this area, and some of the fighters are doing bad things to civilians, who get so fed up sometimes that they report FSA members to the shabiha,”he says. He was once asked to join an FSA battalion for 150US$ a month, but refused. “If we catch a FSA member stealing, he gets the same treatment as anyone else, except that first I organize a meeting with the leader of his battalion to inform him of the situation and also to make sure the stolen goods are returned to the owner,” he explains.

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Their efforts are welcomed by local residents who have grown tired of some FSA members having free reign to do whatever they want. “I’m paying close attention to this because people are losing trust in them.” Other groups are ejecting families from their homes in order to be closer to the front,” says Ryhan. Some of them are stealing cars to move around. “We now have serious complaints about members of the Free Syrian Army. There are five main offices, all of which share information and collaborate in their policing efforts.Īt first, the main crime they fought was a number of robberies of local shops, but this is minor compared to the issues Ryhan has been facing in the past few months. The Bustan security forces are not the only civilian police in Aleppo. To fill this gaping security vacuum, concerned citizens in these areas have taken up the daunting task themselves, organizing to form a civilian police force that is now quite formal in structure, despite being haphazard at first. As both sides fight each other, security in residential areas is sparse, and the void is infested with increasing levels of crime. The UN estimates more than 750,000 people have fled the country, while a further 2.5 million are internally displaced.Īmidst the chaos, the shortage of basic supplies, the displaced families and the constant threat of being caught in the crossfire, the daily lives of citizens are further stressed by the lack of a proper security structure. That figure is higher than United Nations estimates, which put the toll at about 70,000. Secretary of State John Kerry said the death toll may now have reached 90,000, citing figures given to him by his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, according to the AFP. Rebels have been fighting against Assad’s regime for more than 20 months now, and the conflict has undoubtedly changed the face of daily life for citizens all over the country. “It was created by the civilian council that organizes activities in the area, and some of the members are soldiers who defected from Assad’s army.” “After six months, our team is now made up of 35 people,” he says.
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He says they asked some FSA members to join them because they have weapons. We are not the FSA we are just civilians who want to protect our goods and our people,” says Ryhan. We had to do something so people could feel more secure. “There were too many robberies and people being kidnapped in the streets. Facing an increase in crime levels, Ryhan, acting as chief of the police station, decided with 20 other Bustan residents to tackle the increasing security vacuum by forming a unit of civilian police. The Security Revolution in central Aleppo is led by local civilians policing the area. He defected from Assad’s official army in central Aleppo to join the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and become part of a group called the Security Revolution. Inside sat a young man with a Kalashnikov rifle, waiting. The classrooms were being used as offices as well as a prison run by the local civilian police.Īt the back of the courtyard was a room with a Free Syria flag hanging above the desk. In one of the small streets around Bustan, some of those who had taken part in the protest gathered in front of a primary school that had been closed for a while. The shabiha - pro-government militias or spies in civilian clothing - were spotted at the demonstration, which only served to heighten tensions among protesters. ALEPPO - The atmosphere was tense in Bustan al-Qasr after a Friday protest turned into a fight between two groups, one calling for an Islamic state after President Bashar al-Assad’s fall and the other demanding a free and liberal future for Syria.
