Syrian Beauty Salon Owner Becomes a Frontline Rebel Sniper

Following are excerpts from an Al-Jazeera TV report on a Syrian beauty salon owner becoming a sniper within the ranks of the Syrian rebels, which aired on March 17, 2013.

Reporter: These back alleys are the frontline in the war between the rebels and the regime soldiers in Aleppo. Here, it is the snipers who have the final word. Each side prevents the other from advancing by deploying snipers on the rooftops of high buildings.

This is one of the snipers in the ranks of the rebels. The snipers of the regime operate in the surrounding buildings. This is not a regular sniper.

Noor (a.k.a. Umm Ja'far): "And you shot not when you shot, but it was Allah who shot." Allah Akbar. (she pulls the trigger)

Reporter: This is Noor, who prefers the name Umm Ja'far – from a beauty salon owner to a rebel sniper on the frontline.

Noor (a.k.a. Umm Ja'far): The change is tremendous. Imagine going from a romantic pleasant atmosphere to our current circumstances. It is Bashar who forced this change upon us. We did not ask for it.

Reporter: It was not easy to reach this conviction. Umm Ja'far admits that at first, she opposed the revolution, and supported President Bashar and his policies.

Noor (a.k.a. Umm Ja'far): We were being deceived and could not see what was going on. But then we started seeing the reality. We saw all the blood that was shed, the massacres, the killing of children, the women whose [bodies] were pulled out of the river. All these massacres and this injustice are not enough?

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