Fan Shamali ( ar, فان شمالي, also spelled ''al-Fan Ashamali'' or ''Fan esh-Shemali'') is a village in northern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, administratively part of the

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حماة / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates ...

, located northeast of

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

. Nearby localities include

Suran The Survivable Radio Network (SURAN) project was sponsored by DARPA in the 1980s to develop a set of mobile ad hoc network (MANET) radio-routers, then known as "packet radios". It was a follow-on to DARPA's earlier PRNET project. The program began ...

and Kawkab to the west,

Ma'an Ma'an ( ar, مَعان, Maʿān) is a city in southern Jordan, southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existed ...

to the northwest,

Atshan Atshan ( ar, عطشان) is a Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūr� ...

to the north,

Qasr Abu Samrah Qasr Abu Samrah ( ar, قصر أبو سمرة) is a village and archaeological site in Syria, administratively a part of the Hama District of the Hama Governorate, located northeast of Hama city. Nearby localities include Zughba to the north, al ...

to the northeast,

al-Hamraa Al-Hamraa ( ar, الحمراء, also spelled al-Hamra) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northeast of Hama. Nearby localities include Jubb al-Othman to the northeast, Abu al-Thuhur to the n ...

to the east,

Sabburah Sabburah ( ar, صبورة) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located east of Hama and 25 kilometers northeast of Salamiyah, on the western edge of the Syrian Desert. Nearby localities include Aqarib ...

to the southeast, Fan Qibli and Zighrin to the south and Maar Shahur to the southwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Fan Shamali had a population of 1,877 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

s, although most of the surrounding villages and hamlets are inhabited by

Alawites The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isla ...

.Hassan, Hassan
Anatomy of a massacre that bodes ill for Syria's future
'' The National''. 2012-10-03. Fan Shamali contains the ruins of a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

tower dating back to 576 CE.Boulanger, 1966, p. 376. In early September 2012, during the Syrian civil war, opposition activists reported that a "massacre" occurred in Fan al-Shamali committed by local members of the

Shabiha ''Shabiha'' (Levantine Arabic: ', ; also romanized ''Shabeeha'' or ''Shabbiha''; ) is a term for state sponsored militias of the Syrian government. However, in the Aleppo Governorate the term Shabiha is used frequently to refer to pro-Assad Sunn ...

, a pro-government militia. According to activists, at least 30 residents were killed, including women and children.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fan Shamali Populated places in Hama District Archaeological sites in Hama Governorate