Yeah, great thread and pictures. Thanks for sharing. Anymore intel on those guys would be interesting... how are their basic marksmanship skills? what are they fighting for? have they taken heavy casualties? are they in combat frequently?
Threads like this are one of the reason Hide is great spot.
Thanks for the interest, guys. Believe me, I do my best to stay safe. As for the guys, this particular unit is called Jabhat al Akkrad and is a joint Kurdish (YPG)/ Free Syrian Army (FSA) unit. The two organizations are loosely organized, but in general exist to put up resistance to the Assad Regime and his Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The Kurds had tried to stay out of it, and had even come up against the FSA at times. But as the Regime put military pressure on them, the Kurds (at least in Aleppo, where I work mostly) realized they needed to work WITH the FSA. That's the short version...
This unit operates in an urban area, and the distance to enemy positions is often 100-500m. It's sort of a unique venture in that two different ethnic groups are working together. Because of all the Extreme Jihadi groups, and even the less extreme Salafist groups stepping in and being an effective fighting force, many, if not most of the muslim Syrians, even if they want an islamic state, would rather embrace christian or kurdish elements rather than the more extreme elements. They realize that they won't get western help if their revolution is hijacked by the jihadis. So this group is a mix of guys from very devout muslims to christians to kurds all fighting side by side. It's an interesting story. The kurds are pretty modern in their worldview, at least in aleppo. The women even fight alongside the men. I'll post some pics of that too.
Like most FSA fighters, and even most islamist fighters, they are fighting to overthrow what most observers call Bashar Al Assad's repressive authoritarian regime. The FSA and it's 'allies' are highly splintered and not always that effective, though they have been holding their own in, and taking ground in Aleppo. Units like this, whether Kurdish, Joint, or FSA, are generally organized for neighborhood defense. They fight offensively to keep the SAA out of their area, and defensively to maintain their territory. Sometimes they band together for common offensives to push SAA forces out of specific areas, bases, or checkpoints. Recently a combination of FSA and Jabhat al Nusra forces took the northernmost SAA airbase, Minnagh, after an almost year long seige. A smaller unit like these guys might be tasked to join in a larger offensive like that, if they agree to it.
I saw them generally taking shifts watching enemy positions and possible points of attack from their fighting positions, and taking potshots at enemy positions and personnel. During my time with these guys they were able to demonstrate to me that most of them had almost zero basic marksmanship skills in the way anyone trained in the Marines, or I assume the Army, here would think of it. The 'snipers' I posted here are just guys who happen to be carrying those weapons. Maybe they got some basic training, and some are defectors from the SAA, but they didn't even know to not stick their guns through the loupe. They have limited ammo, and it is of very low quality. I saw multiple instances of brass cases rupturing in the chamber and jamming the weapons. THey also have some heavy machine guns and RPG's. Since I was last there they have started to get some real Anti Tank weapons. Any of the units like this one on the front lines see combat every day. Casualties are pretty common. I did not see any with this unit. But I have been with several other units that lost guys mostly to enemy snipers.
The SAA snipers are Russian-Trained and equipped, and have choice positions in tall buildings with huge fields of view. You have to be careful everywhere in the city and ask before walking down any alley or street. I do not know what they are shooting, but they are far more effective than the guys I posted here. I photographed at a hospital for a while and every day tens of people arrive wounded and killed by SAA snipers. Mostly women and children. You are always meeting someone who lost an arm or a leg to a sniper, or who lost a family member. I have been under fire multiple times, not by choice, and the shelling is seemingly random but never really stops. Accidental gun deaths are also fairly common.
But I'm not there to be a combat photographer. My gig is that I document people via portraits. I am fascinated by how people live in all different kinds of situations from war to poverty to wealth, from cities to rural areas. I rode my motorcycle through Syria (and the rest of the the middle east) in 2009, and when the revolution started lost touch with the people I'd met there. In general syrians are warm, hospitable, caring, and generous. Seeing them torn apart by this war is very difficult. I felt drawn to go and find out for myself how they continue on with their lives with all this going on around them. If you follow the links in my signature you can see more images...
