Author: phillsmyth

NOTE: For prior parts in the Hizballah Cavalcade series you can view an archive of it all here.
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The Qusayr Meat Grinder: Hizballah’s Dead From May 20-May 25, 2013
By Phillip Smyth
Click here for a PDF version of this post

Figure 1: Four Hizballah dead are buried in the Bekka Valley city of Ba’albek on May 21, 2013.
The five day period from May 20-25^th saw a massive rise in the number of Hizballah funerals which occurred across Lebanon. There were also group funerals. One occurred in the Bekka city of Ba’albek and is shown below.
An undeniable trend, which has also become much more widespread, is the insistence that every dead Hizballah member was a “Defender” of Damascus’s Sayda Zaynab Shrine. During earlier announcements and funerals, the Zaynab Shrine and it’s protection were invoked quite regularly, but this shift demonstrates a more full acceptance of the narrative that all Hizballah members who are dying in Syria are “Protecting the Lady Zaynab”. On Facebook, albums holding the pictures of Hizballah’s dead from Syria have been entitled, “The Campaign to Defend Saydah Zaynab’s Shrine” to “Zaynab’s Defenders”. The narrative disregards whether these fighters were serving in the countryside near Qusayr, Damascus, or elsewhere within Syria. Instead, the main theme is that all actions executed in Syria are done to protect the Zaynab Shrine. Of course, this promotes more sectarian aspects of the war in Syria and with Hizballah’s involvement.
The listed Hizballah members were all confirmed by checking close to 30 pro-Hizballah and official Hizballah forums, Facebook pages, and websites.
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Name: Muhammed Yasir Sabalani
Death Announced: May 21, 2013
Notes: Sabalani was buried in a group funeral which included three other Hizballah members.

Name: Muhammed Qataya.
Death Announced: May 21, 2013. Funeral was also held on May 21, 2013.
Notes: Qataya’s was part of a group funeral, which included three other dead Hizballah members.

Name: Muhammed Mahdi Ahmed Murtada
Death Announced: May 21, 2013. Funeral was also held on May 21, 2013.
Notes: Murtada was part of a group funeral, which included four other dead Hizballah members.

Name: Al-Haj Ahmed Wael Ra’ad
Death Announced: May 21, 2013. Funeral was held on May 21, 2013
Notes: Ra’adwas part of a group funeral, which included four other dead Hizballah members.

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Photos of the Ba’albek Group Funeral

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Name: Ali ‘Abbas Daheni (Abu Ghaleb)
Death Announced: May 20, 2013.
Notes: Daheni’s death was first announced on three pro-Hizballah Facebook pages.

Name: Husayn Ahmed Abu al-Hassan (Al-Sayyid Abu Zaynab)
Death Announced: May 20, 2013. Funeral was held on May 21, 2013.
Notes: First announcement of Hassan’s death came via Facebook and then BintJbeil.org.

Name: Muhammed Hassan al-Shahadi
Death Announced: May 20, 2013. Funeral was held on May 23, 2013.
Notes: Yasour.org and BintJbeil.org reported that Shahadi was killed “Defending the holy shrines in Syria” and that those attending his funeral chanted “Labayka ya Zaynab” (“We are here for you, O Zaynab”). The first photo of al-Shahadi which was uploaded showed him with a beard. His martyrdom poster showed him clean-shaven.


Figure 2: Trucks with mounted speakers are often used to shout Hizballah slogans during funerals.
Name: Al-Sayyid ‘Abd al-Talib Husayn al-Musawi
Death Announced: May 21, 2013. Funeral was held on May 21, 2013.
Notes: The funeral was held in the central Bekka Valley town of Nabi Chit. The day before, the town buried another fighter, Hassan Faysel Shaker (also spelled Shukor).[1]
 

NOTE: For prior parts in the Hizballah Cavalcade series you can view an archive of it all here.
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By Phillip Smyth
Hizballah Cavalcade: Hizballah’s Multiplying Qusayr Martyrs
 
Click here for a PDF version of this post

Figure 1: Hizballah fighters pose under a road sign pointing to the Syrian city of Qusayr. (Source: Facebook).
On April 30, 2013, Hizballah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah finally made an official announcement signifying Hizballah would become more greatly involved in the Syrian Civil War. Coinciding with his speech were a number of Facebook, pro-Hizballah forum, and other online webpage posts (often with photographs) showing funerals of Hizballah members. These posts had also occurred for well over a month prior to the Nasrallah speech. While Hizballah had been more publicly involved in the conflict in Syria since the summer of 2012 (with the announcement of the first Hizballah members killed in Syria), the speech appeared to be the first truly publicized acknowledgement of what was originally covert Hizballah activity inside Syria.
The weekend spanning May 18-20, 2013 was one filled with martyrdom announcements from Lebanese Hizballah. These announcements coincided with some of the heaviest fighting witnessed since the start of an over-a-month-long, combined pro-Bashar Assad, and Hizballah offensive. This offensive targeted the strategic area of Qusayr. Qusayr serves as a communications link between Syria’s hilly coastal ‘Alawi heartland, Lebanon’s Hizballah-dominated Bekka Valley, and Syria’s capital, Damascus.[1]
Hizballah often obscures the activities of its fighters in Syria. When a Hizballah member is killed, the phrase, “Killed while performing jihad duties” is regularly utilized by the organization as a description for how and why the member died.
As the Qusayr offensive picked-up steam, the numbers of Hizballah dead multiplied greatly. On May 19, 2013, Hizballah officially released a list of 12 Hizballah members killed.[2] On the other hand, Pro-rebel sources claimed anywhere from 20-120 Hizballah members were killed. Hizballah Facebook pages posted different numbers, ranging from 8-15 killed. Additionally, not all of the newly killed Hizballah members had photographs of themselves posted online.
Pro-Hizballah Facebook groups have taken the brunt of responsibility in spreading the news of new Hizballah dead. These pages are often the first to post photographs of Hizballah’s fallen. In turn, pro-Hizballah Facebook pages demonstrate a high level of online organization. Posts announcing newly killed Hizballah members on different pro-Hizballah Facebook pages often occur within minutes of each other. Honing Hizballah’s message further, these pages also share similar photographs. Such activity underlines how information is vetted and then conveyed to the public about those killed. This fact may also demonstrate official Hizballah involvement in announcements of their dead on Facebook.
There are other dead Hizballah members who were killed in Qusayr before the turbulent weekend. However, the posted list includes individuals who were announced by Hizballah as “Martyred” during the fighting from May 18-20, 2013. Currently (May 20, 2013, 12:00PM EST), that number stands at 20 (though, it may be updated with more information). Additionally, only names which could be cross-referenced using a variety of Hizballah sources were incorporated. These sources included pro-Hizballah Facebook pages, Iranian websites, pro-Hizballah forums, official, and semi-official websites.
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Name: Hassan Faysal Shaker
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: Shaker’s place of death was not listed on Facebook, forum, or official web posts. Shaker was originally listed as killed-in-action in an official Hizballah announcement. The announcement reported a group of 12 Hizballah fighters were killed while fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”. This photo was the only one released and could only be found on pro-Hizballah Facebook pages and on pro-Hizballah forums.

Name: (Al-Haj) Muhammed Salman al-Khalil
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: Khalil’s place of death was not listed on Facebook, forum, or official web posts.

Name: Muhammed Ali Assad Bakri
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: Bakri’s place of death was not listed on Facebook, forum, or official web posts.

Name: Abbas Muhammed Uthman
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: Uthman’s place of death was not listed on Facebook, forum, or official web posts. He was one of 12 dead, who were named in the official Hizballah notice.

Name: Fadi Muhammed al-Jazar
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: One pro-Hizballah Facebook page reported Jazar was killed fighting in Qusayr. This was one of the first announcements of a Hizballah fighter being killed in that area. The Times of Israel reported Jazar was a Hizballah “Field commander” at Qusayr and from 1991-2004 he was jailed by Israeli authorities after attacking Israeli positions on the Israel-Lebanon border. Jazar was part of a prisoner exchange in 2004.

Name: Muhammed Fouad Raba’
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: Raba’’s photo shows him holding a modified M4 carbine and posing in front of the 23mm quad-cannon toting ZSU-23 anti-aircraft gun. Raba’ was part of an official Hizballah announcement that a group of Hizballah fighters were killed fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”. This photo was the only one released and could only be found on pro-Hizballah Facebook pages.

Name: Ibrahim Husayn (A.K.A. Abu Ali or Hatem Husayn)
Death Announced: May 18, 2013
Notes: Husayn’s death was announced as part of an official Hizballah announcement that a group of Hizballah fighters were killed while fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”. On two pro-Hizballah Facebook pages, it was claimed that Husayn’s death occurred while “Defending the Zaynab Shrine”. This is a common narrative used to describe Hizballah members who have been killed in Syria. However, it is possible that Husayn could have been serving in Damascus with Hizballah-staffed front groups like Liwa’a Abu Fadl al-Abbas. Other dead Hizballah members from the weekend of May 18-19 did not repeat the claims of that note with their Facebook martyrdom announcement posts. The official website for the town of Bint Jbeil (which is Hizballah controlled) did not report that Husayn was killed defending the Zaynab Shrine. On May 20, an official Iranian website for the Young Journalists Club, reported Husayn was a Hizballah commander.

Name: Hassan Ali al-Shahrour
Death Announced: May 18, 2013. Funeral held on May 18, 2013.
Notes: According to YaHala.org, a pro-Hizballah website, Shahrour’s funeral was attended by many senior Shia religious leaders. Al-Ahed, one of Hizballah’s official news organs, reported that Hizballah MP Muhammed Ra’ad attended the funeral. This was the likely due to the fact that Ra’ad represents Nabatiyeh in Lebanon’s parliament. Photos were posted on Facebook pages, YaHala.org, and BintJbeil.org.

Figure 2: Shahrour’s funeral was led by members of the Mahdi Scouts (Hizballah’s official scouting program). To the right of Shahrour’s posters, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini is pictured on another poster.

Name: (al-Haj) Ahmed Wael Ra’ad
Death Announced: May 19, 2013.
Notes: No photo was posted. Ra’ad was part of an official Hizballah announcement stating a group of Hizballah fighters were killed fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”.
Name: (al-Haj) Radhwan al-‘Attar
Death Announced: May 19, 2013.
Notes: No photo was posted. ‘Attar was part of an official Hizballah announcement stating a group of Hizballah fighters were killed fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”.
Name: Hassan Hariri
Death Announced: May 19, 2013.
Notes: No photo was posted. Hariri was part of an official Hizballah announcement stating a group of Hizballah fighters were killed fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”.
Name: Radhi al-Sha’er
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: No photo was posted. Hariri was part of an official Hizballah announcement stating a group of Hizballah fighters were killed while fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”.
Name: Hussein ‘Amar Yaghi
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: No photo was posted. Yaghi was part of an official Hizballah announcement stating a group of 12 Hizballah fighters were killed while fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”.
Name: Abu Saman Qasas
Death Announced: May 19, 2013
Notes: No photo was posted. Qasas was part of an official Hizballah announcement stating a group of 12 Hizballah fighters were killed while fulfilling their, “Jihad duties”.
Name: Muhammed