Idlib Governorate

Coordinates: 35°42′N 36°42′E / 35.7°N 36.7°E / 35.7; 36.7
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Idlib Governorate
مُحافظة ادلب
Arabic

Idlib Governorate (

Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the south, and Latakia Governorate to the west. Reports of its area vary, depending on the source, from 5,933 km2[2] to 6,097 km2.[3] The provincial capital is Idlib
.

In 2011, the governorate was taken over by

Syrian government forces advanced deep into rebel territory; by 8 February, only a little more than half of the governorate's territory was reported to still be under rebel control.[4] The remainder of rebel-held territory is dubbed by publications such as Reuters, the BBC and Agence France-Presse as Syria's "last rebel stronghold".[5][6][7]

History

Archeological sites

Modern Syria (1946–2011)

Idlib Governorate was separated from the neighboring

a mass killing by Syrian security forces in 1980.[9] On 9 March 1980, against a background of anti-government protests across Syria, inhabitants of Jisr ash-Shugur marched on the local Ba'ath Party headquarters and set it on fire. The police were unable to restore order and fled. Some demonstrators seized weapons and ammunition from a nearby army barracks. Later that day, units of the Syrian Army Special Forces were helicoptered in from Aleppo to regain control, which they did after pounding the town with rockets and mortars, destroying homes and shops and killing and wounding dozens of people. At least 200 people were arrested. The following day a military tribunal ordered the execution of more than a hundred of the detainees. In all, about 150–200 people were said to have been killed.[10]

Syrian Civil War (2011–present)

Main article: Syrian civil war

Idlib contested by Syrian government and rebels (2011–17)

The

Siege of Wadi Deif
military base from October 2012 through April 2013 was also broken.

The 2014 Idlib offensive was a series of operations conducted by the rebels against the Syrian Government. The clashes were mostly concentrated around Khan Shaykhun and on the highway towards Maarrat al-Nu'man, and resulted in rebel victory. In the March Battle of Idlib (2015), al-Nusra Front/Army of Conquest-led rebels retook Idlib city from government and Hezbollah forces.[11]

In the

Syrian rebel group the Ahrar al-Sham
, the latter supported by several other rebel groups.

The

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) and their allies on the other. After 7 February, the clashes also included Jund al-Aqsa as a third belligerent, which had re-branded itself as Liwa al-Aqsa and was attacking the other combatants. The battles were fought in the Idlib Governorate and the western countryside of the Aleppo Governorate
.

The

Assad government denied using any chemical weapons in the air strike.[23]

Predominance of rebels like HTS (2017–18)

The Idlib Governorate clashes (July 2017) were a series of military confrontations between Ahrar al-Sham and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. During the clashes, Tahrir al-Sham attempted to capture the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing.[24] As a result of the clashes, HTS took control of Idlib city, the border crossing, and most of the areas along the Turkish border in the Idlib Province. Clashes resumed in July 2017. In September 2017, the Syrian government and its Russian allies intensified bombing raids against rebel-held towns in Idlib, with multiple casualties.[25] Officially, the campaign to capture areas held by ISIL and the rebels began in October. A Turkish military operation in Idlib Governorate took place in October/November 2017.

As of August 2018, following the end of the

a demilitarization zone
was created on the front between the government and the Turkish-backed opposition, temporarily freezing the conflict.

Government on the rebound (2019–present)

On October 26, 2019, U.S.

CIA intelligence effort located him, and conducted during the withdrawal of U.S. forces in northeast Syria, further complicating the operation[30][31] The Syrian Democratic Forces and Iraqi military also supported the operation; Turkey said it coordinated with the US prior to the mission.[32]

A large portion of the governorate was retaken by government forces during the course of the 2019 offensive, which caused the displacement of nearly a million civilians, and subsequent 2020 offensive, which caused the death of over 1,000 more, often in aerial bombardments.[citation needed] As of March 2020 – if not sooner – rebel control over Idlib Governorate was considered a matter of political survival of the Turkish President Erdoğan. If Idlib falls back into the hands of the Syrian government, the next targets would be the Turkish-controlled zones in northern Syria, and their fall would signal the failings of Erdogan's war against the PKK.[33]

After the value of Syrian currency plummeted, the Turkish lira was adopted as legal tender in the governorate on 15 June 2020.[34]

Geography

Parts of the westernmost regions of the governorate form part of the

Syrian desert to the east. The Jabal Zawiya highland region lies in the south-central areas of the governorate.[36]

Settlements

Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Salqin, Saraqib and Taftanaz
.

Districts

The governorate is divided into five

nawahi
):

Demographics

As per the 2004 Syrian census the population was 1,258,400.

Sunni Muslims,[38] although there is a significant Christian minority.[39]

Gallery

  • Map of Idlib governorate
    Map of Idlib governorate
  • Ruins of Ebla
    Ruins of Ebla
  • The Great Mosque of Maarrat al-Numan
    The
    Great Mosque of Maarrat al-Numan
  • Salqin
    Salqin
  • Byzantine temple in Idlib
    Byzantine temple in Idlib
  • Ruins of Serjilla
    Ruins of Serjilla

References

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  3. ^ "Syria: Governorates, Major Cities & Localities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
  4. ^ "Syria army takes Idlib crossroads town despite Turkish warnings". AFP.com. 16 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
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  7. ^ "Syria army takes Idlib crossroads town despite Turkish warnings". AFP.com. 16 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  8. ^ "وثيقة رسمية تكشف: إدلب قبل عبد الناصر". Orient News (in Arabic). 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
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  12. ^ "Division 13 evacuate most of its headquarters in the southern countryside of Idlib and clashes between them against Jabhat Al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa in Maarrat al-Nu'man area and tension prevails in the area". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. 2016-03-13. Archived from the original on 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  13. ^ SOHRkhan (14 February 2017). "اشتباكات هيئة تحرير الشام وتنظيم جند الأقصى تخلف نحو 70 قتيل بين الطرفين... والأخير يخسر 9 بلدات وقرى خلال الـ 48 ساعة الفائتة". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
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  21. ^ "US attack on Syria: world leaders react". The Irish Times. 12 April 2017. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  22. ^ "An official source at Foreign Affairs Ministry expresses Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong support for US military operations on military targets in Syria". 12 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Syria's Assad says chemical attack '100 percent fabrication'". Agence France Presse. 13 April 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  24. ^ "Fighting in Syria's Idlib province spreads to Turkey border crossing". The National. 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  25. ^ Suleiman Al-Khalidi Russia, Syria intensify bombing of rebel-held Idlib, witnesses say Archived 2018-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, 24 September 2017
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  27. ^ Joe Macaron (17 October 2018). "A confrontation in Idlib remains inevitable". Al-Jazeera. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  28. ISSN 0015-7120. Archived
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  29. ^ "ISIS leader al-Baghdadi believed to have been killed in a US military raid, sources say | CNN Politics". CNN. 27 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  30. ^ "Isis Leader al Baghdadi Dead After US Special Forces Raid Hideout in Syria: Sources". International Business Times. 27 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  31. ^ "Trump says Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blew himself up as U.S. Troops closed in - the Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  32. ^ "Trump: ISIS leader al-Baghdadi killed in US commando raid". 27 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
  33. ^ (in Dutch) 'For Erdogan, Idlib is kill or cure' Archived 2021-04-16 at the Wayback Machine. NRC Handelsblad, 4 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  34. ^ AGENCIES, DAILY SABAH WITH (2020-06-16). "Idlib follows suit in adopting Turkish lira to shield region from plummeting Syrian pound". Daily Sabah. Archived from the original on 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  35. ^ "Asi-Orontes Basin". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2016. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
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  37. ^ Syrian Arab Republic - Governorates profile (PDF), UNOCHA, June 2014, archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2018, retrieved 20 March 2020
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  39. ^ "تقرير الطائفة المسيحية في إدلب". 15 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2022-02-06. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
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