Mare' مارع | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Mare' Location of Mare' in Syria | |
| Coordinates:36°28′58″N37°11′47″E / 36.4828°N 37.1964°E /36.4828; 37.1964 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Aleppo |
| District | Azaz |
| Subdistrict | Mare' |
| Elevation | 420 m (1,380 ft) |
| Population (2004)[1] | |
• Total | 16,904 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Geocode | C1643 |
Mare' (Arabic:مارع,romanized: Māriʿ, locally pronouncedMēreʿ), also spelledMarea, is a town in northernAleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. It is the largest town and administrative centre of theMare' nahiyah in theAzaz District. Located some 25 kilometers north of the city ofAleppo, the town has a population of 16,904 as per the 2004 census.[1] Nearby localities includeShaykh Issa andTell Rifaat to the west,A'zaz to the northwest,Dabiq to the northeast,al-Bab to the southeast, andMaarat Umm Hawsh andHerbel to the south.
Mare' was affected by theongoing Syrian uprising against the government ofBashar al-Assad. The Ibn Walid brigade of the oppositionFree Syrian Army was formed in the town in August 2012.[2]TheMare' Operations Room was, as well, based around the town.
In January 2015, Mare' was controlled by theIslamic Front.[3] However, the capture of the nearby town ofDabiq in early 2015[4] by theIslamic State threatened the town of Mare'. One of the largest rebel-controlled towns close to the front-line of Islamic State territory, Mare' produced a salient that ISIS attempted to reduce in a number of minor offensives against the town which continued until May 2016.
During theNorthern Aleppo offensive in February 2016,Russian airstrikes preceded an assault byKurdishYPG militias, forcing the overwhelming majority of the population to escape towards other rebel-controlled territories or across the border intoTurkey. The Turkish government declared Mare' to be part of a red line which Kurdish forces must not cross. TheYPG advance put Mare' on the frontlines withSDF forces to the west,Syrian Army forces to the south, andIslamic State forces to the east.[5] In August 2016, Mare' was reportedly controlled by theFSA.[6][7][8][9] FollowingTurkey's launch ofOperation Euphrates Shield, the2016 Dabiq offensive in September 2016 pushed theISIS front-line back, removing the imminent threat posed to the town.
 | This article about a location inAleppo Governorate, Syria is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
