Nubl نبل | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Nubl | |
| Coordinates:36°22′32″N36°59′39″E / 36.37556°N 36.99417°E /36.37556; 36.99417 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Aleppo |
| District | A'zaz |
| Subdistrict | Nubl |
| Control | Syrian transitional government |
| Elevation | 429 m (1,407 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[1] | |
• Total | 40,000+ |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Nubl (Arabic:نبل, also spelledNubbul orNubbol) is a small city in northernSyria, administratively part of theAleppo Governorate, located northwest ofAleppo. Nearby localities includeal-Zahraa immediately to the south,Anadan to the southeast,Tel Rifaat to the northeast,Aqiba to the north,Barad to the west, andMayer immediately to the east. According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nubl had a population of 21,039 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantlyShia Muslims and together with nearby al-Zahraa, Nubl forms a small Shia-inhabited pocket in a mostlySunni Muslim area in the Aleppo Governorate.[2]
Nubl and al-Zahraa were undersiege by the anti-governmentFree Syrian Army (FSA),al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda's Syrian branch), andAhrar al-Sham. Movement out of Nubl was severely curtailed, and it relied on goods being airlifted by theSyrian Army. Although relations between the inhabitants of Nubl and the surrounding villages were normally friendly, during the ongoingSyrian civil war, anti-government supporters from nearby Sunni villages have claimed that Nubl and al-Zahraa hostedpro-government militias that have launched attacks against opposition supporters. There were numerous tit-for-tat kidnappings between Nubl and pro-opposition villages in the vicinity.[2][3] After months of rebel siege and continuous reciprocal kidnappings, popular committees in the two towns agreed to begin negotiations with Sunni rebels on 27 March 2013. The agreement to negotiate was organised by Kurdish parties from the neighboringKurd Dagh region, which is controlled by Kurdish fighters of thePYD. The talks were brokered by Kurds, and several kidnapped individuals were freed on both sides.[4]
On 3 February 2016, anoffensive by theSyrian Arab Army andHezbollah ended the siege.[5]
On 30 November 2024, the Kurdish-ledSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of the city amidst theattack on Aleppo and the subsequent retreat ofpro-government forces, to evacuate Kurdish civilians andIDPs from theShahba Canton.[6][7][8] Afterwards, militants affiliated withHayat Tahrir al-Sham took over the city.[9]
