The People of Sweida Triumph Over Militants on Two Different Fronts

For the first time since January 2013, the Syrians of the Sweida Governorate are facing an existential threat from the horde of Islamist militants that have begun swarming their beloved land from the northeastern and western flanks, leaving the people of this historical province to mobilize and arm themselves in preparation for an imminent battle.

Despite the looming threat they face, the Syrians of the Sweida Governorate have not shied away or surrendered themselves to the Islamist militants at either of these volatile fronts; instead, they have decided to welcome their enemies to the battlefront like their ancestors did to the French Imperialist Army some 90 years ago.

However, as history reminds us, the famous commander of the Syrian Forces during the Great Syrian Revolt of 1925 – Sultan Basha Al-‘Atrash of Sweida – led his courageous soldiers against the better equipped and trained French Imperialist Army at the “Battle of Mazra’a”, resulting in a stunning and monumental defeat for the colonial forces.

The people of Sweida – donning their Sultan Basha Al-‘Atrash and Syrian flag patches – have joined their countrymen from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and National Defense Forces (NDF) at the Tha’lah Military Airbase, where they have repelled the militants from the Free Syrian Army’s 1st Brigade, Jaysh Al-Yarmouk, and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra.”

Unfortunately for the Islamist militants, they did not expect this kind of resistance from the people of Sweida and the Syrian Armed Forces at the Tha’lah Military Airbase, as the latter units have repelled all of the rebel infiltration attempts; this includes the Islamist’s largest assault at the military airbase on Thursday morning.

Further north, the NDF has been joined by local Durzi militias from the village of Tarba to defend the northeastern countryside of the province, where a large contingent of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) have launched an attack on the town of Al-Rashidah; this attack was also beaten back by the NDF and local militias, despite numerous infiltration attempts by the terrorist group.