Al-Zahraa

Syrian Civil War

Main article: Siege of Nubl and Al-Zahraa

Nubl and al-Zahraa were under siege by the anti-government Free Syrian Army (FSA), al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda's Syrian branch), and Ahrar al-Sham. Movement out of Nubl was severely curtailed, and it relied on goods being airlifted by the Syrian Army. Although relations between the inhabitants of Nubl and the surrounding villages were normally friendly, during the ongoing Syrian civil war, anti-government supporters from nearby Sunni villages have claimed that Nubl and al-Zahraa hosted pro-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. 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 neighboring Kurd Dagh region, which is controlled by Kurdish fighters of the PYD. The talks were brokered by Kurds, and several kidnapped individuals were freed on both sides.

On 3 February 2016, an offensive by the Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah ended the siege.

The town came briefly under the control of the Kurdish-led SDF after the withdrawal of pro-Assad forces on November 30, 2024, to evacuate Kurdish IDPs from the Shahba Canton. Afterwards, militants of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over.

References

References

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