Ersal is living in a state of total lawlessness, complete with executions against both locals and refugees, armed robberies, and assassinations and retributions. Meanwhile, it appears that the government’s “cosmetic” security plan in place is insufficient to deter the militants from wreaking havoc in the town’s streets and alleyways.
Ersal is in an unenviable position. The Bekaa Valley border town, which has supported the “Syrian revolution” from the outset, is being devoured by the revolution’s “children.” The executions, retributions, murders, and armed robberies have aggravated the state of anxiety and apprehension among the town’s people, and has raised many questions about the future that awaits Ersal and its relationship with the refugees, who now outnumber its original population, and with its relationship with its neighbors, now at an all-time low.
Mustafa Izz al-Din is the latest victim to be executed following a death sentence issued in accordance with the “revolutionary law” in Ersal. On the evening of Tuesday, July 8, militants raided his home in the town at iftar – the time observing Muslims break their fast during Ramadan after sunset. According to one resident of Ersal, Mustafa was an “innocent man who never harmed everyone.”
“They shouted God is great as he was praying and killed him,” he added.
But this is not the first execution of its kind to take place here. Izz al-Din's son, Hamada, had also been assassinated in thejurud, or mountainous wilderness regions, near the town, two weeks before his father was killed. People in Ersal talk about dozens of executions targeting both locals and Syrian refugees, and say bodies were often dumped in the wilderness or thrown in hollows in nearby valleys.
Previously, Ersal had been linked for a long time in the minds of the public to the name of its controversial mayor Ali al-Houjeiri. Nowadays, however, the name Abu Hassan al-Filastini has supplanted Houjeiri’s. The latter, according to people from the town, had defected from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. After the Battle of Qalamoun, he fled to the hills near Ersal. There, he established a so-called Sharia Commission that has since issued many fatwas and death sentences, and is reportedly the leader of the Syrian and local militants who killed Izz al-Din.
According to sources in Ersal, there are rumors circulating about a hit list containing the names of 13 residents of the town whom Abu Hassan al-Filastini wants dead, including Mayor Ali al-Houjeiri. Sources say Houjeiri’s name was included on the list following recent talks between him and Abu Hassan for the release of Makhoul Murad, a man from Ras Baalbek who had been kidnapped by the militant leader’s men recently.
The sources explain that an agreement was reached for Murad’s release in return for a $50,000 ransom, “of which $20,000 was secured by people from Ras Baalbek, while Houjeiri pledged to get the rest from Ahmed Hariri.” The sources added that Houjeiri gave Abu Hassan only $20,000 from the ransom money, which infuriated the latter.
As a result, the sources add, Houjeiri has been taking additional security measures including using different and decoy cars during his movements. But in a phone call with Al-Akhbar, Houjeiri denied the reports, saying he had handed over the ransom in full. Regarding the hit list that allegedly includes his name, Houjeiri dismissed them as rumors, adding, “I don’t think they’re true…God help us anyway.”
The dangers lurking in Ersal are known to the people of the town, who know well that the militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), al-Nusra Front, and al-Katiba al-Khadraa are deployed heavily in the wilderness and hills surrounding them, “wreaking havoc and moving freely in and outside the town without deterrent, especially since a number of people from Ersal are members of these groups,” according to informed sources.
The same sources said, “The Syrian army has created a problem for both us and itself.” They argue that after the battle of Qalamoun, the militants were allowed to flee to the wildness near Ersal and other [remote] areas along the border. The sources explained, “These areas are difficult to control given the rugged nature of their terrain, and the natural places of hiding they offer, including caves and tunnels.”
According to the sources, more than 5,000 militants from ISIS, al-Nusra Front, and al-Katiba al-Khadraa control these areas, added to 5,000 armed refugees out of the 30,000 who reside in the summer homes and groves belonging to the people of Ersal, as well as in nearby caves.
The sources say that the problem the Syrian army created for itself is that all those militants now use the areas they control as a staging ground for their near-daily incursions into the Syrian regions of Assal al-Ward and the Rankous plain, but also into Lebanese territory, including most recently in the Tanniyeh region between the outskirts of Ersal and the towns of Fakiha and Ras Baalbek, where they instigated violent clashes.
The sources revealed that up to 12,000 packets of bread are taken daily from the bakeries in Ersal to the wilderness areas, as well as various foodstuffs and hot meals. Yet, they say, “all this is not enough for the militants,” who have been resorting to looting, armed robber, and even cattle rustling.
All the above raises questions about the role of the army and the security services in Ersal, over why the militants can move freely there without any deterrence, and also brings into question the effectiveness of the government’s security plan for the town.
Many people in the town do not deny that they felt relief when the army entered Ersal, with the security services deploying a force there and arresting a number of fugitives. However, they say, that relief soon evaporated when the townspeople began to sense that the security plan was rather cosmetic, as the extremists returned to the town, and militants began to raid homes and murder people or rob them.
In the opinion of some residents of the town, the problem with the army’s checkpoints on the outskirts of the town is that the roads leading to them have “bypasses” through which the militants move, even though they are only dozens of meters away from the checkpoints in some cases. These bypass turns and roads link the town to many remote areas where the militants are holed up, they say.
Some people in Ersal consequently call for deploying another brigade of the Lebanese army in the town to assist the Eighth Brigade there, erect checkpoints within the town, and block all bypass roads leading to the remote regions. They also call for restricting the time during which refugees, who number 160,000 (117,000 of them are registered), can move, crack down on cars with tinted windows and tens of thousands of motorcycles, and reinforce the Internal Security Forces detachment in the town.
Mayor Ali Houjeiri, however, said that there is no need for the army and the government, because they cannot solve the problem. Rather, he claimed that the people of Ersal can end these problems, and “look after themselves when it comes to executions and the militants.”
Speaking to Al-Akhbar, Houjeiri said all of Lebanon was living in panic and fear, and not just Ersal, before he argued, “As long the Lebanese – both Hezbollah and March 14 – are intervening in Syria, the situation will remain like this throughout Lebanon.” Houjeiri then added, “The Syrian army controls the villages of Nabek, Qara, and Falita but not their outskirts, which allows [militants] to move across the border.”
Indeed, according to informed sources in Ersal, border crossings like Umm al-Jamaa, Wara al-Saabeh, and Aqabet al-Qseira (in the direction of Falita) remain open, in addition to crossings leading to Ras al-Maara on the Syrian side.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
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