This post is also available in:
العربية
When we previously shed light on wounded Deir Ezzor’s FSA fighters and the repulsive way they were overlooked and fully neglected by both humanitarian health organizations and the military factions they had served under their command in Syria; we were essentially turning the focus on the repeat of the same upsetting and distressing situation in some areas in Syria now.
There are still countless wounded Deir Ezzor’s FSA fighters in Syria, and they have been entirely neglected and no one has ever supported them by something they could depend on to undergo a surgery for their injuries. Instead of taking care of them by finding a way to send them to Turkish hospitals, the military factions keep these abandoned and debilitated wounded Deir Ezzor’s FSA fighters in their headquarters in the areas under their control in Syria where they have remained uncared-for until now.
The farmer and the wounded fighter
Saleh Badran who is in his forty ; is just a simple farmer, however, he is also fully aware of the atrocities and oppressive rule of the Assad-regime. Once the peaceful anti-Assad protests broke out in Deir Ezzor, Saleh Badran was among the first to rush to the streets of the province to shout anti-Assad slogans, calling for a total change in the government and overthrow of the dictator, al-Assad.
As the peaceful protests evolved into an armed uprising, which coincided with a situation where Salah was wanted by the Assad security branches in Deir Ezzor for his anti-Assad attitude, he chose to take up arms against the tyranny of the regime and eventually join the ranks of the Free Syrian Army. 2012 was a watershed for Badran as it is the year he joined the FSA and managed to achieve notable victories against the Assad forces trying to occupy his province ( Deir Ezzor).
After Daesh’ seizure of most of the areas in Deir Ezzor province, Saleh preferred to leave for other provinces rather than being ruled by his new occupiers (Daesh).
He left Deir Ezzor for northern Syria to continue his fight against the Assad-regime; according to Salaeh, fighting Assad in northern Syria in areas like Idlib and Aleppo was the same as fighting him in the eastern region, maximizing the regime casualties and obliterating him in the northern region would weaken his strongholds in the eastern region. The eastern and southern fronts are in the end regarded as one battle against an oppressive regime.
Fighting on the most challenging and exacting front lines at the Coastal area, led Saleh to suffer a severe injury in March 2015. He triggered an IED while he was storming, along with some of his comrades, a regime position in the Mount of al-Turkmen in the Coastal front, causing him to lose one of his legs and consequently turning his life into a complete nightmare.
He was instantaneously transported to the hospital of al-Yamdiya in the Coast where he spent one week and then he was taken to the headquarter belonging to the battalion he was fighting for. Saleh was transferred to the headquarter rather than being taken to a Turkish hospital to receive treatment for his serious injury. Being treated in a Turkish hospital became a closed-subject and unattainable for Salah following the decision of Turkish authorities to close their border with Syria; pushing Salah to stay in the headquarter which lacks the simplest medical stuff and tools.
He underwent a surgery to fix his leg at one of the hospitals in the city of Saraqib, Idlib province.
Salah is not the first among Deir Ezzor’s FSA fighters to become disabled after clashes with the Assad-regime in northern Syria; there are actually several others who must not forgotten and buried in the mists of time. Moussa Mohamed al-Kaloud, his first injury did not prevent him from carrying on his struggle and fight against the Assad-regime, even after he left Deir Ezzor for northern Syria.
He partook in almost all the battles against Assad forces that took place in the eastern region. One day as he was clashing with Assad forces, al-Kaloud get shot in the head, causing him to suffer from hemiplegia and eventually stop the fight and stay in a headquarter of his FSA faction without undergoing any type of surgery to his wound abroad.
In need of an independent budget
D24 contacted Abu Raad, commander of the FSA faction “Abduallah Bno Zubayr” who told us the following: “The manpower of our battalion does not exceed 30 fighters. Three of them suffer permanent disabilities; not to mention those who have martyred and those with light injuries. Our issue is actually not with the injury itself, as it is our destiny, however, the main issue is that these wounded combatants should receive medical treatments for their injuries by transporting them to Turkish hospitals abroad.”
He continue, “We as a military faction operating on the ground in Syria do not receive a continuous support; it is actually almost nothing if you put it in the context of the situation we are facing right now in our region. Sometimes, once we get this extremely limited support; we share part of it with the wounded; but it is still insufficient for them, as they need an independent budget meant to cover all of the medical costs for their treatments. They are in an urgent lack of medicine whose prices have increased dramatically; not to mention the physical therapy sessions they would have to go through in case they received the adequate support.”
The field hospitals in Syria are doing their best and working with all the available medical tools to help our wounded fighters.
With regard to the humanitarian medical organizations, Abu Raad says, “I have not heard of any humanitarian organizations or committee attempting to reach or ask about us. They have never asked us, even on the net or via phone, about the situation of the wounded FSA’s fighters in these areas in Syria.”
