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SCUD Missiles in Raqqa: Nightmare and Resistance


On the night of April 22, 2013, a SCUD missile fell on the northwestern city of Raqqa, killing dozens of people and reducing the whole area to ashes. Doctors, journalists and activists rushed to try and save civilians trapped under the rubble, a task that poses huge dangers. It is well-known among Syrians that the regime usually waits for people to gather around the dead and wounded to throw yet another missile, in order to leave behind as many victims as possible.

This is the story showcased by the documentary “Here Fell Kabus", with “Kabus” (Nightmare) standing for the SCUD missile that destroyed so many people´s lives in one night.

The movie manages to convey the harsh and disturbing reality of a missile falling over civilians. The raw film draws the viewer into the anguish and terror experienced by Syrians. Because of its level of crude realism, it has been compared to The Battle of Chile, by filmmaker Patricio Guzmán.

The documentary was started in a spontaneous manner, a filmmaker from the team said to Syria Untold. “We just rushed there and tried to document the destruction. Only after we watched the recordings we thought we could put a movie together.”

Syrian journalist Amer Matar with a child in the city of Banash, Idlib. Source: Amer Matar´s facebook page.
Syrian journalist Amer Matar with a child in the city of Banash, Idlib. Source: Amer Matar´s facebook page.

 

Journalist Amer Matar, who was already arrested by Syrian forces in September 2011, started recording without knowing if his brother was under the rubble. “I was so worried that I felt that the only way to escape my fear was to turn on the camera. It´s hard to explain, but there´s this connection between turning the camera on and facing fear.”

 

In the Syrian context, where life itself has become an act of resistance, "Here Fell Kabus" is as much proof of the regime´s brutality as it is of resistance against oppression and fear. Further evidence of the fact that, despite Assad´s attempts to terrorize its population, the reign of silence is gone, and there is no way back.

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Illustation by Dima Nechawi Graphic Design by Hesham Asaad