Reports | 15 05 2015
"Incoming helicopter toward the work area; attention—incoming helicopter north-east Kfarawad; incoming Lattakia helicopter entering Kansafra airspace eastward—attention!"
With these few words on a small wireless device, volunteers in the monitoring and reconnaissance teams in the Idlib countryside, attempt to warn civilians from potential raids by the Syrian regime's airforce.
Mohammed Qasim, a shopowner in the Idlib countryside, says that the observatory help save the lives of many people via their circulars that are issued before any bombardment to help evacuate the population from marketplaces to shelters, in time.
Mitigate Casualties!
With the increasing intensity of battles in Syria, an urgent need of the people in the Syrian interior emerged to take advantage of available techniques on hand, to avoid the regime forces' bombing, and mitigate its casualties.
Despite power outages, lack of communication and the Internet; the opposition observatories rely on hand-held wireless devices, considered as a means of early alarm, helping caution Syrians from bombardments before they actually take place. This helps mitigate the loss of life to aminimum, through the so-called "circulars."
Wireless devices have become widely spread among Syrians, including civilians and military personnel, in areas controlled by the opposition. They have become their companion at all times, and have become their main means of identifying the locations targeted by the regime airforce, so as to avoid them.
Penetration of the Syrian Regime Army Frequencies!
"The Observatory is a liaison point between civilians and combatants, that came to life in order to spy on regime roadblocks and warn civilians in time of danger; later developing to become a means of warning people from the regime airforce," explains Wahid Al-Hassani, a volunteer in one of the observatories. He adds that civilians are cooperating with observatories' volunteers, by responding to their warnings and entering shelters; thus helping mitigate losses.
Via simple devices such as radio and wireless devices, the regime army's frequencies are penetrated; thus its objectives can be predicted. This is followed by a direct dissemination of news to the military and the civilians in the targeted site, to take necessary measures—as confirmed by Abu Abdullah, leader of the Fursan Al-Haq [Knights of Right] brigade.
Says Abu Abdullah: "The observatory helps us avoid regime hits during battles, being the only means of communication available. It also helps civilians avoid regime bombings, through monitoring the battlefield as well as regime communications."
The Experience of Radio Fresh and Civil Defense of Cooperation With The Observatories
Civilians' inability to buy wireless devices—after their prices rose to more than one hundred dollars per unit—prompted Radio Fresh in Kafr Nabl to re-broadcast observatories' warnings as soon as they are circulated; as Rami Fares, the Radio's Director tells us, stressing that the observatories have become a key component in his station's work.
Hospitals in the Syrian interior have also become increasingly more reliant on the observatories in part of their work. Civilians are often asked to donate blood, through calls by the observatory made at the request of doctors, in time of need.
Says Dr. Zaher Hnak: "We use the observatories to avoid bombing; as the regime considers hospitals its enemy. It also enables us to reach the families of anonymous patients, who come into the hospital in times of chaos."
The work of the observatories is not limited to warning civilians of regime bombings; it also coordinates with civil defense teams, notifying the coordinates of the areas targeted for [regime] shelling, so that working teams may take appropriate and more effective measures.
In that vain, Obeida Osman, Civil Defense Director in and around Kafr Nabl, explains: "A fire recently broke out in the region. We attempted to limit its spread using our modest means until the arrival of help, that we requested through the observatories from neighboring areas."