Kafr Nabl

Kafr Nabl كَفْرنَبِل Kafranbel
Town
Kafr Nabl Location in Syria
Coordinates: 35°36′50″N 36°33′40″E / 35.61389°N 36.56111°E / 35.61389; 36.56111
Country	Syria
Governorate	Idlib
District	Maarrat al-Nu'man
Subdistrict	Kafr Nabl
Elevation	735 m (2,411 ft)
Population  (2004)
• Total	15,455

Kafr Nabl (Arabic: كَفْرنَبِل, romanized: Kafr Nabil, also spelled Kafranbel or Kafr Nabil) is a town administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate and Ma'arrat al-Numan District in northwestern Syria. It is situated 735 meters (2,411 ft) above sea level. In the 2004 census by the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics Kafr Nabl had a population of 15,455.^[1] In the early 1960s it had a population of about 1,200. Kafr Nabl's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslim.^[2]

Kafr Nabl is located on an ancient Byzantine dead city, and is surrounded by some of the most important Dead Cities, such as Serjilla, Shanshrah, and al-Bara.^[3]

Prior to the Syrian civil war, Kafr Nabl was Syria's largest producer of figs and a major producer of olives. About 3,700 hectares, or 778,000 trees were used for fig cultivation. Roughly 60% of the population were employed in the production and natural processing of the fruit. Farmers in Kafr Nabl usually dedicated around 80% of their cultivation time to the production of figs and 20% for olives.^[4]

Since the civil war, the town has gained fame for producing satirical videos about the war.^[5] It belonged to an area controlled by the Army of Conquest.^{[citation needed]}

Planes of the Russian Air Force, based in Latakia, had begun to attack the city in the autumn of 2015.^[6][7]

On November 23, 2018, activist Raed Fares and journalist Hamoud Junaid were killed in Kafr Nabl, by an unknown gunman.^[8]

Most of the town's remaining inhabitants fled in early 2019, due to the violence that erupted during the 2019 Northwestern Syria offensive.^[9] Shortly thereafter, the rebel groups in control of the town received a "stark warning" from Russia, which accused them of using it to stage alleged false-flag chemical attacks against the Syrian government, as well as a launching ground for missiles targeting government-controlled areas in violation of the Idlib demilitarization agreement.^[10] On 21 July 2019, the local council of the rebel-held town declared that "everything [in the town] had been destroyed and burnt" as a result of clashes and government airstrikes targeting rebel positions within it.^[11]

On February 25, 2020, the Syrian Army reimposed control on Kafr Nabl for the first time since 2012 during the 2019–20 Northwestern Syria offensive and repulsed rebel attempts to re-take it during their counterattack.^[12][13]

• Giuliani, Alessandra (2007), Developing Markets for Agrobiodiversity: Securing Livelihoods in Dryland Areas, Earthscan, ISBN 978-1-84407-468-6
• Carter, Terry (2008), Syria and Lebanon, Lonely Planet, ISBN 978-1-74104-609-0

• Al-Ubeidu, Ahmed. Old Mosques in Kafr Nabl From Several Civilizations. E-Idleb. E-Syria. 2011-01-26. (in Arabic)