40 years on, Hama survivors recall horror of Assad-era massacre
2025-01-31 15:00:02 - From: Al monitor
Hayan Hadid was 18 when soldiers arrested him in his pyjamas and took him for execution in Syria's Hama in 1982, during one of the darkest chapters of the Assad clan's rule.
"I've never really talked about that, it was a secret. Only my family knew," said Hadid, now a father of five.
In light of the December 8 ouster of Bashar al-Assad, "we can talk at last", he said.
On February 2, 1982, amid an information blackout, Assad's father and then leader Hafez launched a crackdown in Hama in central Syria against an armed Muslim Brotherhood revolt.