Bloody Moon Purge
| Bloody Moon Purge (تطهير القمر الدموي) | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dar Al Hamma, Salamat |
| Date | August 16, 1989 - August 17, 1989 11:24 pm - 4:51 am (UTC-01:00) |
| Target | ¨Persons considered 'suspicious" by Jalil Al Kharrabi |
Attack type | Purge |
| Deaths | 39 |
| Perpetrators | Jalil Al Kharrabi |
| Motive | Removal of any suspicious personnalities which could've overthrown Jalil Al Kharrabi |
The Bloody Moon Purge took place in the night between August 16 1989 and August 17 1989 and was ordered by Jalil Al Kharrabi. The purge got its name because of the total lunar eclipse which happened this night, and Kharrabi started and ended the purge at the very start and very end of the lunar eclipse. According to historians, he wanted to have a symbol for his purge, to reaffirm himself.
The chronology of the purge
Note : All dates anterior to August 16 1989 were retrieved with government documents, and the times indicated during August 16-17 1989 were retrieved from the VHS tape.
Prior to the purge
According to government and secret services documents, Jalil Al Kharrabi premeditated the purge for a long time ; with the first mention of it appearing on a document dating back to July 26 1988, 1 year and 2 weeks before the event.
On September 14 1988, the government started building the bunker, where the purge took place, under a park of Dar Al Hamma, while disguising it for a metro station.
After the completion of the bunker in April 1989, Al Kharrabi coordinated secret services and released his list of targets, with about 43 names in total. Al Kharrabi reportedly made some changes to the list. Al Kharrabi also fixed the date of the purge to the night of August 16 to August 17, 1989.
Just three days prior to the event, authorities closed down the park because of a supposed "ruptured water pipe".
During the purge
At about 11:00 pm on August 16 1989, multiple police cars, painted in black, parked just in front of the victims houses, with masked men leaving the car and arresting the suspicious persons.
At 11:24 pm, the VHS tape starts, with a focus on the full moon. Then, the tape clearly shows seven men, against a wall, blindfolded and handcuffed. A man, identified as being Abd Al Karim el Hammadi, was shown screaming at the men, cursing their families, and slapping them. He was also surrounded by a group of soldiers armed with rifles.
At about 12:05 am, all of the targets were retrieved, handcuffed and blindfolded. The first death was Anwar Bashrah, a general of the Salamati Armed Forces, accused of treason. He was shot in the head at 12:11 am.
Promptly after the first execution, the soldiers executed the majority of the lasting men during the rest of the night, but before killing them, they would all scream and curse the victim, and list all of their wrongdoings before shooting them in the head.
The last man to die was the Ministry of People's Safety, Khalid Shawad, executed for hiding the Al Shawahiyyu industrial incident to the public.