This post is also available in: العربية
Monday 8th August 2016 marked the second anniversary of Al-Shaitat Massacre, which was perpetrated by Daesh against Al-Shaitat tribesmen in Deir Ezzor’s eastern countryside, after they stood up and rebelled against the group.
Around 1000 to 1200 civilians from Al-Shaitat tribe were killed in the massacre, including women and children, according to statistics confirmed by human right organizations and activists monitoring the region. The number of victims kept mounting after one year of the massacre due to the discovery of several, shocking mass graves in the area.
Al-Shaitait tribe has presence in the towns of Al-Kashkiya, Abu Hamam and Ghranij in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, and their number is estimated to be 120 thousand people. The remaining civilians who survived the horrific massacre were displaced from their villages, and were allowed to return gradually after a while.
The massacre took place when Al-Shaitat tribesmen rebelled against Daesh following the fall of the eastern countryside into the hands of the group and the atrocities and human rights violations that followed it.
Daesh took casualties during the first days of the uprising; however, after the arrival of the group reinforcement to the region , it managed to suppress the voice of Al-Shaitat tribesmen by killing a large number of them while displacing the rest.
Noteworthy, fighters from Al-Shaitat tribe are still fighting against Daesh on multiple fronts since they left the province of Deir Ezzor in 2014, most significant front is the northern Aleppo front where they have showed their determination by defending and thwarting continuous Daesh offensives on the region.