al-Bab

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al-Bab  /الباب / al-Bāb
Al-Bab
Al-Bab (Syria)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 36 ° 22 ′  N , 37 ° 31 ′  E Coordinates: 36 ° 22 ′  N , 37 ° 31 ′  E
Basic data
Country Syria

Governorate

Aleppo
ISO 3166-2 SY-HL
height 450 m
Residents 63,069 (2004)

Al-Bab ( Arabic الباب, DMG al-Bāb  'the gate') is a city in the Aleppo Governorate in northwest Syria with around 63,000 inhabitants (2004 estimate). A district of the same name, around 4,000 square kilometers in size, belongs to the administrative city.

geography

Al-Bab is 35 kilometers northeast of Aleppo off the road leading to Manbij . There are no remains from ancient times. The place was re-established around 1860 in the border area to an old Syrian settlement area. In 1970 the population was estimated at 32,000.

Since around 1960, the groundwater in the treeless arable steppe has been increasingly developed. Previously, only the cultivation of winter grain was possible alternating with fallow land . In the area, irrigated agriculture is now practiced by diesel pumps. Vegetables (tomatoes, aubergines) and pomegranates are mainly grown to meet the needs of Aleppo .

The city is an important regional trade and handicraft center with a lively souq .

history

During the Syrian Civil War , the city was captured by the Islamic State terrorist militia in September 2013 . On September 11, 2013, planes of the Syrian Air Force bombed a field hospital in al-Bab, which resulted in attacks by residents and members of the Free Syrian Army on the headquarters of the IS militia.

In February 2017, a Turkish military offensive, together with militias from the Free Syrian Army commanded by Turkey, succeeded in liberating Al-Bab from the terrorist militia Islamic State . The fighting over the city began in November 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The governorates of Syria and all cities of more than 35,000 inhabitants. citypopulation.de, July 20, 2009
  2. ^ Eugen Wirth : Syria, a geographical country study. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1971, p. 390
  3. ^ Barak Barfi, Aaron Y. Zelin: Al Qaeda's Syrian Strategy. The Washington Institute, October 10, 2013, accessed May 6, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Nour Malas: Rebel-on-Rebel Violence Seizes Syria. WSJ.com, September 18, 2013, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Rebels drive IS from Al Bab. faz.net, February 23, 2017