Hurshid Jabir Al Salahi sent his wife, children, parents and siblings to Turkey, and he stayed in Syria to join Jaish al Hur to fight.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about yourself in brief?
Hurshid Jabir Al Salahi: I am from Taftanaz town of Idlib province in Syria. I am 32 years old, married and a father of two children.
ORSAM: How did the civil war in Syria affect you and your family? What brought you to Turkey?
Hurshid Jabir Al Salahi: When the civil war broke out, I sent my wife, children, parents and siblings to Turkey, and I stayed in Syria to join Jaish al Hur to fight. I was ready in all conflicts in Idlib province. We killed many troops. We destroyed a large number of tanks and seized many military articles. Taftanaz district is a settlement with a population of 15 thousand people. The distance between the district and the airport is 2 kilometers. It is also the area which is bombed most among other districts and towns in Syria. We have at least 150 martyrs in our district. Hundreds of houses, mosques, shops etc. were all destroyed during bombardment.
We surrounded the airport for a couple of times, but we could not somehow seize the control due to the lack of military equipment. We made planes and helicopters crash. But they were all by chance, we did not have a proper means to measure the distance. We shot jets by random cross fires, we did not have much chance to hit the target. There are some 400 thousand Mujahids in our region. But most of them are not trained, just volunteers. There are also Iraqi, Yemeni, Libyan and Palestinian people among us. In order to prevent all clothing, food aid and shelter to be provided for us by the villagers, these areas are bombarded due to our presence. As we do not have any place to take a rest or anything to eat while fighting, we get exhausted and have to split into groups and had some rest in far places.
Most of migrations are caused by the presence of Jaish al-Hur in this area and the bombardments to prevent aid to be delivered to us. Roads were blocked to suppress us, to suppress the people, certain points were bombed and our agricultural fields and crops were all set on fire. Trees were uprooted to prevent us from taking advantage of them.
I was wounded, but it is not serious. We have a medical team, as well as medical equipments. But we do not have a hospital with beds in the area. We turned either a large house, a warehouse, or a tent into a hospital. Through the support of Turkey, a hospital was opened in Syria Babel-Hava, which is located near Cilvegözü border gate. Turkish authorities came to attend the opening, and it turned out to be a nice hospital; but I do not think there is not enough medical device and equipments to operate seriously wounded with the capacity to provide service for those who live in tent cities and the neighboring villages.
As Mujahids, we are provided with financial aid, and our families in Turkey are provided with food aid, as well as clothes. They are also provided with financial aid at certain point. I came to Turkey to have some rest for a while.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay on 15 January 2013.
