A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

What Happened at Jisr al-Shughur?

Syria has reported heavy fighting at Jisr al-Shughur, and the question is who the Army has been fighting: is it a scorched earth campaign or, as the Syrian government claims, has there been heavy armed resistance? Josh Landis offers some commentary and a good roundup. There's certainly a humanitarian issue with the refugee camps along the Turkish border, but the lack of independent reporting on the ground and huge discrepancies between the government and opposition narratives probably deserve a certain amount of caution. I put nothing past the Asad security forces, but I'm also not sure of what has been happening or who has been controlling the town. Just because the government is capable of atrocities doesn't mean there isn't an armed opposition. Let's watch this one.

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