The Christian Town of Muhrada in North Hama: Interview

On the frontlines of the insurgent offensive

As mentioned in the previous post on the north Hama frontline town of Qamhana (Sunni), Muhrada is one of two notable Christian localities in the area that now find themselves facing the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led insurgents’ push towards Hama city. Like Qamhana, Muhrada has stood by the Syrian government throughout the war, having local affiliates of both the National Defence Forces (led by Simon al-Wakil, who has had relations with the Russians deployed in Syria) and the Iranian-backed Local Defence Forces. As is the case with Qamhana, observers should realise that there is great concern in Muhrada about the prospect of the insurgents’ entry into the town, and that they would not view the insurgents’ seizure of Muhrada as a liberation.

To learn more about the sentiment in Muhrada, I conducted an interview with Fahad al-Wakil, who is Simon’s son.

Q: How is the situation in general?

A: Currently we are firmly stationed in Muhrada, and the insurgents have not been able to enter it, but frankly we are in disarray, and around us are many army personnel. But after the loss of Aleppo, the morale has tumbled.