An eerie silence hangs over what was once a busy highway that cuts through the mountains and makes for Latakia city.
A rebel looks out onto the frontline Photo: WARREN ALLOTT
By Ruth Sherlock, Latakia province
8:30PM GMT 17 Dec 2012
Abu Yassin, resident in one of the dozens of Sunni villages in Jebel Akrad drove his vehicle, the only one on the road, passed the carcases of burnt out tanks, abandoned government checkpoints and row upon row of empty villages.
In the distance war was raging: government helicopters circled over front line towns, dropping barrels filled with TNT and lethal metal debris on buildings below with deafening effect. Rebel fighters shot back with anti-aircraft guns hidden amid narrow buildings or in nearby forests that cover the mountainsides.
It is here; in this mountainous Mediterranean coastline of Syria's Latakia province that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may well hope to make his last stand.
For centuries, this was his and his people's homeland, the verdant terrain belonging to his minority Alawite sect. Now it is this enclave comprising the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous and mountains to the east that the many in the President's his sect see as their and his last chance of making a breakaway Alawite state to protect them against the Sunni majority rebellion.
But, travelling across the terrain this week The Daily Telegraph discovered that the rebels have already won control of much of his land, making the vision of a safe haven state – or a at leats a defendable one – more pipe dream than project.
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Slipping across the border from Turkey insurgents have waged an, largely unreported, war. Inching forward, village by village and town by town the rebels now hold the two large mountain ranges of Jebel Akrad and Jebel Turkman that make up most of the north of the province.
As they moved forward, Alawite families have hastily grabbed their possession and fled.
An abandoned kitchen in Salma village situated in the Latakia Province (Warren Allott)
"We have six Alawite villages under our control now, but there are no Alawites left here. They believe that if Bashar al-Assad goes, they will all be killed so they all fled to areas the regime controls," said Abu Yassin.
Those Alawite villages visited by the Daily Telegraph now stand abandoned and desolate. Many showed signs there had been a hasty exit. Front doors were left swinging open on their hinges, personal possessions – shoes, clothes, books were trailed on the floor. Bullet holes and shelling damage dented outer walls and many shops looked as they though they had been set on fire.
Most of the Alawite families fled to Latakia, Tartous or to the nearby 'Alawite Mountain,' the place that is also Bashar al-Assad's home of al-Qardaha. From across Syria too, Alawite families who fear they will become the victims of sectarian attacks – whether they support the government or not – have begun building homes in these high retreats.
But even these are now within the rebel's sights. Lying less than two miles away the 'Alawite Mountain' is clearly visible from the front line town of Salma. Government helicopters and jets bombard the town day and night, and near continuous shelling has reduced most of the buildings to rubble and potholed the roads. But they have been unable to stop the rebel advance, and soon, it seems there may be nowhere for the President to go.
"We are planning to take the Alawite Mountain and move on Latakia. If we allow the Alawite state to be a fact on the ground then all the minority groups will say 'we want our state' and the country will be torn apart," said Abu Taher, a rebel commander in Salma.
Moderate fighters like Abu Taher, the leader of a rebel brigade in Salma is adamant that only those Alawites "with blood on their hands" will be punished 'for their crimes'. And that should any of the hardline sectarian minded jihadist fighters that have infiltrated some of the rebel groups try to launch attacks on Alawite civilians they 'will be defeated [by local rebels]'.
But even among local Sunni opposition there are frightened whispers that with a rebel victory in these mountains and then in Latakia city below them, it would be difficult to prevent a violent spate of revenge killings.
Sunnis and Alawites have long lived peacefully as neighbours in this area, but the war is tearing this fabric of society apart, and is laying dangerous sectarian foundations.
Women and children make bread in a a makeshift bakery in the village of Obin (Warren Allott)
An elderly couple, both over 80, Mr and Mrs Ahmed Barakat refused to leave when the rebels came to their rural Alawite village of Ain al-Ashara. Led by local man Sheikh Ayman Othman, rebels had promised villagers they wouldn't be harmed. But when later Sheikh Othman was killed in battle, a second more sectarian minded militia stormed the village and the villager's lives became a living nightmare:
"They stole everything: They took all the cars and broke into all of our homes. After that residents said they thought they would be killed so they fled to Latakia," said Mr Barakat.
As he spoke fat tears rolled down Mrs Barakat's cheeks: "Three months ago they came and arrested my son. He had not done anything wrong.
"A man came back and demanded ransom money of 1.5 million Syrian pounds [approx £13,000]. They gave me three days to get the money, or else, they said, they would kill my son. I begged and borrowed from my friends and family. When he came again, at night, he took the money but they haven't returned our son."
Mr and Mrs Ahmed Barakat (Warren Allott)
Religious and community leaders in Jabal Akrad have together launched an education campaign for the rebels on how to peacefully control Alawite areas: "We are trying to stop revenge killings," said Sheikh Mohammed Raheh.
Sheikh Khaled Kamal was the first religious leader in Latakia city to speak out against the regime when anti-government demonstrations began in the city last year. Now he is based in the rebel held mountain areas, working to keep the revolution from descending into sectarian chaos:
"I am sure there will be massacres of Alawites and bad revenge killings when we reach Latakia. The Syrian regime made us enemies over the past two years.
"I and the other Sheikhs are trying to stop this. But we are not sure that we will succeed".
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