The 1981 Hama massacre occurred, according to one report, after a failed attack by armed Islamist guerillas on a security checkpoint near an Alawite village near Hama. As a revenge action, units of the Syrian Special Forces and the 47th Brigade deployed into Hama and launched house-to-house searches, sealing off neighborhoods as street fighting erupted. A curfew was imposed and Syrian Army troops entered the city. Between Thursday, April 23, 1981, and Sunday, April 26 1981, security forces executed at least 350 residents of the city and injured 600 more, chosen randomly among the male population over the age of 14.