| Aleppo Artillery School massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Islamic uprising in Syria | |
| Location | Syria Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republic in Federation of Arab Republics (until 1980) |
| Date | 16 June, 1979 |
| Target | Syrian Artillery cadets |
| Attack type | massacre |
| Deaths | 32-83 Syrian soldiers |
| Injured | at least 54 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Ibrahim el-Youssef, Adnan Uqla, Muslim Brotherhood |
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The Aleppo Artillery School massacre occurred on 16 June 1979 in el-Ramouseh district of Aleppo province (Syria), when an officer in duty, Ibrahim el-Youssef, and a group of Combatant Vanguard (Attali’a el-Moukatillah, headed by Adnan Uqla) implemented a massacre in Aleppo Artillery School, that left 32 cadets dead and 54 injured.[1] The incident marked the beginning of full scale urban warfare of Syrian Muslim Brotherhood against Alawis,[2] as part of the Islamic uprising in Syria.
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The massacre in Aleppo Artillery School occurred on 16 June 1979, when an officer in duty, Ibrahim el-Youssef, and a group of Combatant Vanguard (Attali’a el-Moukatillah, headed by Adnan Uqla) implemented a massacre in Aleppo Artillery School, that left 32 cadets dead and 54 injured.[1] On June 22nd, the Syrian interior minister at the time, Adnan al-Dabbagh, accused the Muslim Brotherhood of the implementation of this massacre and killing of Alawi students. The culprits targeted cadets from the Alawite sect, however the then Minister of Information, Ahmad Iskander Ahmad, stated that the murdered cadets included Christians and Sunni Muslims as well.[1]
The Muslim Brotherhood organisation denied any knowledge of the carnage prior to its occurrence, also denying any involvement in a statement distributed two days later, on 24th June 1979.[1] They also accused the Syrian regime under Hafez al-Assad of trying to tarnish the image of the movement, that made the most impact among opposition movements on the Syrian street.
This incident was a marking stone of the struggle for power in Syria between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hafez Assad and his collaborators,[1] and marked the beginning of full scale urban warfare against Alawis,[3] as part of the Islamic uprising in Syria.
Between 32[4] to 83 mostly Alawi Syrian cadets were killed in the attack.
The Syrian government responded by sentencing to death about 15 prisoners, already accused of being Iraqi agents, for belonging to the Islamic resistance movement. Terrorist attacks then became a daily occurrence, particularly in Aleppo and other northern cities. The government tended to ascribe these attacks to the Brotherhood, but as the armed resistance gained widespread popular support and more loosely defined armed groups appeared, especially in poor neighborhoods, it became difficult to determine the extent of the Brotherhood's involvement.[5]
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