Saraqib

Saraqib
سراقب
Saraqeb
Town
Saraqib
Location in Syria
Coordinates: 35°51′49″N 36°48′2″E / 35.86361°N 36.80056°E / 35.86361; 36.80056
Country  Syria
Governorate Idlib
District Idlib
Subdistrict Saraqib
Elevation 370 m (1,210 ft)
Population (2012)
 • Total 34,231

Saraqib (Arabic: سراقب‎ also spelled Saraqeb or Saraqueb) is a city in northwestern Syria, administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate, located east of Idlib. It has an elevation of 370 meters above sea level. The ancient site of Ebla is situated five kilometers south of the city.[1] Nearby localities include Mardikh and Maar Dibsah to the south, Trunbah and al-Nayrab to the west, Sarmin to the northwest, Taftanaz to the north, Talhiyah to the northeast, Tell Touqan to the east and Kafr Amim to the southeast.

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Saraqib had a population of 32,495 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center and largest locality of the Saraqib nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 24 localities that had a collective population of 88,076 in 2004.[2] Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.[3]

History

A large community of Nawar settled in Saraqib during the Ottoman era.[4] Along with Khan Shaykhun and Ma'arat al-Numan, Saraqib is well known for its elaborate black cotton cloth embroidery.[5] On 26 February 1959, former president Gamal Abdel Nasser addressed the city's residents in a speech commemorating the union between Egypt and Syria forming the United Arab Republic.[6]

Syrian Civil War

Rebel residents of Saraqib have participated in the Syrian civil war against the government of Bashar al-Assad since at least April 2011.[7] According to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian security forces arrested over 200 people, believed to be anti-government activists, in the city after taking it on 11 August 2011.[8]

In the Battle of Saraqib, 24–27 March 2012, the government recaptured the city. On 19 July 2012, after a raid by a Free Syrian Army unit based in the city against a nearby checkpoint manned by the regular Syrian Army, at least 25 people were killed in subsequent shelling by the latter.[9] On 2 November 2012 this strategic junction of the Aleppo-Damascus and Aleppo-Latakia roads, and a 25 kilometres radius around it, was reported to be completely under Free Syrian Army control.[10]

On 23 January 2017, Ahrar al-Sham captured Saraqib from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.[11] On 19 July, 2017 Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which was created after the merger of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and other rebel factions, recaptured the city from Ahrar al-Sham militants.[12] It was bombed in September 2017 as part of a government/Russian offensive against rebel territories in Idlib and Hama.[13]

Sport

The local football club is called Saraqeb Sporting Club, founded in 1980, the club plays in the Syrian League 2nd Division.

References

  1. ↑ Gockel and Bruns, p. 87.
  2. ↑ General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Archived 2013-02-06 at the Wayback Machine.. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Idlib Governorate. (in Arabic)
  3. ↑ Oweis, Khaled Yacoub. Syrian opposition won't talk to officials linked to crackdown, Reuters, 15 February 2013.
  4. ↑ Berland, p. 73.
  5. ↑ Shoup 2008, p. 96.
  6. ↑ Information Department, 1960, p. 65.
  7. ↑ Filiu, p. 169.
  8. ↑ Tensions ripple in Syria as U.S., Turkey address crisis. CNN, 11 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "In Rebel Syria: Celebrating Assad's Departure–Even Though He's Still Staying", time.com, 20 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 2 November 2012.
  11. ↑ @Lawrence1918x (24 January 2017). "Reports that Ahrar is now in full control of Saraqib - a very strategic place in Idlib CS since it used to supply S Aleppo and Hama" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ "Al-Qaeda wins the upper hand in Idlib as jihadist groups unleash hell upon one another". AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  13. ↑ Suleiman Al-Khalidi Russia, Syria intensify bombing of rebel-held Idlib, witnesses say, Reuters, 24 September 2017

Bibliography

  • Berland, Joseph C. (2004). Customary Strangers: New Perspectives on Peripatetic Peoples in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0897897714.
  • Filiu, Jean-Pierre (2011). The Arab Revolution: Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199898294.
  • Information Department (1960). President Gamal Abdel-Nasser's Speeches and Press-Interviews. Information Department.
  • Shoup, John A. (2008). Culture and customs of Syria. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313344566.
  • Gockel, Wolfgang & Bruns, Helga (1998). Syria Lebanon. Nelles Verlag. ISBN 3886181057.
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