Kafriya ( ar, كفريا, also spelled Kifarya or Kefraya) 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

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...

, located northwest of

Idlib ar, إدلبي, Idlibi , coordinates = , elevation_m = 500 , area_code = 23 , geocode = C3871 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info ...

. Nearby localities include

Maarrat Misrin Ma'arrat Misrin ( ar, مَعَرَّةُ مِصْرِينَ, Maʿarrat Miṣrīn, also spelled Ma'arrat Masrin or Ma'aret Masreen) is a small city in northwestern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. Ma'arrat Misrin lies an elevation ...

to the north,

Zardana Zardana ( ar, زردنا, also spelled Zerdana or Zirdana) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. The village lies in a relatively flat plain. Nearby localities include Taftanaz to the southeast, al-Fu'ah a ...

to the northeast,

Taftanaz Taftanaz ( ar, تَفْتَنَاز, Taftanāz, also spelled Teftanaz) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 17 kilometers northeast of Idlib. Nearby localities include Ta'um and Binnish to the sou ...

to the east and

al-Fu'ah Al-Fu'ah ( ar, الْفُوعَة, al-Fūʿah, also spelled al-Fouaa and al-Fo'ua) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northeast of Idlib. Nearby localities include Kafriya to the west, Maarrat Misr ...

and

Binnish Binnish ( ar, بِنِّش, Binniš, also spelled Binsh) is a city in northwestern Syria, administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate, located just north of Idlib. Nearby localities include Kafriya and Maarrat Misrin to the northwest, al ...

to the immediate south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Kafriya had a population of 4,404 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Idlib Governorate. Archived a

Like nearby al-Fu'ah, Kafriya's inhabitants were predominantly Shia Islam, Shia Muslims, while the surrounding areas 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 ...

.Hubbard, Ben
Rebel-held Syrian town struggles to keep the peace
''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

''. 2012-06-25.

Syrian Civil War

During the Syrian Civil War the village was placed under siege by rebels, and on 11 January 2016 the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

and the

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

organised an aid convoy to deliver food, medicine and other aid to the village and the nearby town

Al-Fu'ah Al-Fu'ah ( ar, الْفُوعَة, al-Fūʿah, also spelled al-Fouaa and al-Fo'ua) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northeast of Idlib. Nearby localities include Kafriya to the west, Maarrat Misr ...

. On 19 July 2018, residents of Kafriya and Fua and government fighters stationed in the two besieged towns were evacuated by buses to government-controlled

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

under an agreement between

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, the Syrian government, and

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

, with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

as a mediator. Following the evacuation, the emptied towns were declared a military zone by HTS. During the evacuation process, a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

on the convey of buses awaiting admission into government-held territories occurred, after which 126 people, including 68 children were killed.

References

{{Idlib Governorate, idlib Populated places in Idlib District Shia Muslim communities in Syria