Syria: Terrorist Confesses to Attacking Government Establishments and Army Checkpoints, Kidnapping, Torturing and Murdering Citi

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Terrorist Muhannad Fouad al-Assaf, a leader of an armed terrorist group in Homs, confessed to attacking government establishments, kidnapping, torturing and murdering citizens, shooting and killing demonstrators to frame the army and security forces, attacking army checkpoints, and vandalizing public and private property.

In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV on Sunday, al-Assaf said that he was a neighbor of Bilal al-Ghen who invited him to his home and asked him to join him in demonstrations, to which al-Assaf agreed.

Al-Assaf, a barber born in 1974, said that al-Ghen tasked him with collecting money from specific people, two of which gave him a total of SYP 300,000 while the third, a woman named Fadia al-Jandali, have him a box of medicine, a box of ammo and SYP 500,000 she collected as donations from rich people she worked for as a cook.

"Bilal would go out in his pickup truck on which he mounted a machinegun and opened fire on the Police Command… we also broke street and traffic signs… he told us that he will arm us and indeed he gave us weapons and I formed an armed group consisting of 9 people while Bilal's group contained more than 20 gunmen," he said.

"We began by opening fire on protestors, killing ten of them to accuse the government of killing them… we also attacked the Trade Union and the Workers Pharmacy which we attacked ten times… we attacked an infirmary in al-Khalidiya and opened fire on it," al-Assad elaborated, adding that Bilal's cousin Majed al-Ghen fired an RPG round at the infirmary.

"We attacked dozens of checkpoints in Homs… We attacked the school of Yousuf al-Azma in al-Khalidyah neighborhood. We were about 100 gunmen… we had AK-47 rifles and pump-action shotguns. Bilal had a machinegun. Bilal used to give me money to buy rifles, pump-action shotguns, RPG rounds, grenades and ammunition from 'Khalid al-Zoubi' from Tel Kalakh area." He confessed.

He indicated that the weapons were coming to them through vehicles transporting vegetables from Lebanon, smuggling weapons from Beirut to Tel Kalakh to Bab Amro in Homs, then they would phone Bilal to receive them.

"In one operation, we smuggled 15 RPG rounds and about ten hand-made explosive charges. Bilal had two Thuraya satellite phones and several mobile phones," al-Assaf said, pointing out that the group of Bilal al-Ghen abducted people and took them to a house in Old Homs, where they beat them up and tortured them before putting them in a car.

"I would drive this car to distant areas… We killed several people and dumped their bodies… I knew some of the people whom we killed. One of them was Ahmad al-Abrash and another was called Bashar. I was among the group that killed al-Abrash," he said.

On the attack on the Homs Police Command, al-Assaf said "Bilal phoned Abdul-Minim Kolko, AKA Abu Hassan, then Bilal asked us to go by car to observe if there are nearby army or law-enforcement personnel. Bilal then went in his pick-up truck with a machinegun mounted on it and opened fire on the Police Command along with his cousins."

He concluded that "Once, we attacked the Police Command with grenades and RPG rounds… Bilal's group also killed a policeman at night on Hama Road."

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