Mare'

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Mare'
مارع
Town
Mare' is located in Syria
Mare'
Mare'
Location of Mare' in Syria
Coordinates: 36°28′58″N 37°11′47″E / 36.4828°N 37.1964°E / 36.4828; 37.1964
Country Syria
GovernorateAleppo
DistrictAzaz
SubdistrictMare'
Control Turkey
Syrian opposition Syrian Interim Government
Elevation
420 m (1,380 ft)
Population
 (2004)[1]
16,904
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
GeocodeC1643

Mare' (Arabic: مارع Māriʿ, locally pronounced Mēreʿ), also spelled Marea, is a town in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Mare' nahiyah in the Azaz District. Located some 25 kilometers north of the city of Aleppo, the town has a population of 16,904 as per the 2004 census.[1] Nearby localities include Shaykh Issa and Tell Rifaat to the west, A'zaz to the northwest, Dabiq to the northeast, al-Bab to the southeast, and Maarat Umm Hawsh and Herbel to the south.

Mare' is the administrative center of Nahiya Mare' of the Azaz District.

Syrian Civil War[edit]

Mare' was affected by the ongoing Syrian uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad. The Ibn Walid brigade of the opposition Free Syrian Army was formed in the town in August 2012.[2] The Mare' Operations Room was, as well, based around the town.

In January 2015, Mare' was controlled by the Islamic Front.[3] However, the capture of the nearby town of Dabiq in early 2015[4] by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) threatened the town of Mare'. One of the largest towns close to the front-line of ISIL territory, Mare' produced a salient that ISIL attempted to reduce in a number of minor offensives which continued until May 2016.

In February 2016, Russian airstrikes preceded an assault by Kurdish YPG militias, forcing the overwhelming majority of the population to escape.[5] In August 2016, Mare' was reportedly controlled by the FSA.[6][7][8][9] The 2016 Dabiq offensive in September 2016 pushed the ISIL front-line back, removing the imminent threat posed to the town.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "2004 Census Data for Nahiya Mare'" (in Arabic). Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics. Also available in English: UN OCHA. "2004 Census Data". Humanitarian Data Exchange.
  2. ^ As Aleppo battle rages, a new brigade joins the fight[permanent dead link]. Agence France Press. 2012-08-23.
  3. ^ "Special Report: Northern Storm and the Situation in Azaz (Syria)". MERIA Journal. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  4. ^ Graeme Wood. "What ISIS Really Wants". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  5. ^ "The Syrian Refugees Trapped Between an Angry Turkey and a Vengeful Assad". Time magazine. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  6. ^ Chris Tomson. "Rebels advance rapidly amid full scale ISIS retreat in northern Aleppo - Map update". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  7. ^ "Qasion News Agency | Opposition break the siege by ISIS on Mare'a". Qasioun.net. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  8. ^ "Factions carried out an attack near the opposite Mare` city and regain control of the town and the village and close to break the siege of the city". SOHR (in Arabic).
  9. ^ Reuters Editorial (2016-06-08). "Islamic State withdraws from northwest Syria frontlines". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-03-02. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)