Saraqib سَرَاقِب Saraqeb | |
|---|---|
  Saraqib Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°51′49″N36°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:سَرَاقِب,romanized: Sarāqib also spelledSaraqeb) is a city in northwesternSyria, administratively belonging to theIdlib Governorate, located east ofIdlib. During the course of theSyrian Civil War, the city fell to rebel forces in 2012 and was recaptured by the Syrian Army in 2020. The city was captured by theSyrian Salvation Government during the2024 Northwestern Syria offensive.[1][2]
It has an elevation of 370 meters above sea level. The ancient site ofEbla is situated five kilometers south of the city.[3] Nearby localities includeMardikh andMaar Dibsah to the south,Tronba andal-Nayrab to the west,Sarmin to the northwest,Taftanaz to the north,Talhiyah to the northeast,Tell Touqan to the east andKafr Amim to the southeast. TheM4 andM5 motorways intersect near Saraqib.[4]
According to theSyria 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 theSaraqibnahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 24 localities that had a collective population of 88,076 in 2004.[5] Its inhabitants are predominantlySunni Muslims.[6]
A large community ofNawar settled in Saraqib during theOttoman era.[7] Along withKhan Shaykhun andMa'arat al-Numan, Saraqib is well known for its elaborate black cotton clothembroidery.[8]
On 26 February 1959, former presidentGamal Abdel Nasser addressed the city's residents in a speech commemorating the union betweenEgypt and Syria forming theUnited Arab Republic.[9]
The town of Saraqib lies at a strategic junction of the Aleppo-Damascus and Aleppo-Latakia roads. Since the outbreak of theSyrian civil war, from at least April 2011, the town has seen popular opposition toBashar al-Assad's government.[10] TheSyrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that over 200 anti-government activist suspects were arrested when Syrian security forces captured the city on 11 August 2011.[11]
Syrian government forces recaptured the city in theBattle of Saraqib, 24–27 March 2012. On 19 July 2012, at least 25 people were killed inSyrian Army shelling following a raid by aFree Syrian Army unit based in the city on a Syrian Army checkpoint.[12] Between 30 October and 1 November 2012,al-Nusra andLiwa Dawud—then a sub-unit ofSuqour al-Sham—coordinated an attack on three government checkpoints at entrances to the town.[13]
On 23 January 2017,Ahrar al-Shamcaptured Saraqib fromJabhat Fatah al-Sham.[14] On 19 July 2017 theHay'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.[15] Saraqib was bombed in September 2017 as part of a government/Russian offensive against rebel territories inIdlib andHama.[16]
On 3 February 2018, Russian military pilotRoman Filipov'sSu-25SM jet was shot down byTahrir al-Sham andJaysh al-Nasr militants over theIdlib Governorate, near the town ofMaarrat al-Nu'man (57 km (35 mi) north of the city of Hama), or the town of Saraqib, according to other sources,[17][18] with ashoulder launched surface to air missile. He committed suicide by blowing hisgrenade to avoid capture.
On 15 October 2018, theGuardians of Religion Organization which isal-Qaeda's branch in Syria published a video in Saraqib which showed the group's religious police, thehisbah, driving around the city with loudspeakers calling on people to adhere to sharia.[19]
In July 2019,Hayat Tahrir al-Sham raided anISIL base in the city, arresting several individuals including an individual reportedly associated with ISIL's leaderAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi, resulting in clashes between ISIL and HTS fighters; during the fighting severalimprovised explosive devices were detonated by ISIL.[20]
On 6 February 2020, the city fell to the Syrian Army in the5th Northwestern Syria offensive,[21] but had been retaken weeks later by 26 February during a Syrian opposition and Turkish counter attack.[22] On 1 March 2020, Saraqib was once again under Syrian Army control.[23] On 2 March 2020, theRussian Reconciliation Centre in Syria announced that RussianMilitary Police had been deployed to the city.[24] The city was left depopulated for a number of years thereafter and its infrastructure torn down and looted by the Assad regime.[25]
On 28 November, 2024,Tahrir al-Sham launchedan offensive on the eastern Idlib countryside, capturing Saraqib.[26]
The local football team is calledSaraqib Sporting Club. Founded in 1980, the club last played in the Syrian League 2nd Division.
