Salma ( ar, سَلْمَىٰ, Salmā) is a village in northwestern

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

Latakia Governorate Latakia Governorate, also transliterated as Ladhakia Governorate, ( ar, مُحافظة اللاذقية / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat al-Lādhiqīyah'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay ...

, located northeast of

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

. Nearby localities include Mashqita and Ayn al-Bayda to the west,

al-Haffah Al-Haffah ( ar, ٱلْحَفَّة, al-Ḥaffah) is a town in northwestern Syria administratively belonging to the Latakia Governorate, located east of Latakia. It is the centre of al-Haffah District, one of the four districts (''mantiqah'') of t ...

to the southwest, Aramo and Slinfah 12 km to the south, and

Kinsabba Kinsabba ( ar, كنسبا, also spelled Kansaba) is a town in northwestern Syria administratively belonging to the Latakia Governorate, located northeast of Latakia. Nearby localities include Slinfah to the south, al-Haffah to the southwest, B ...

to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Salma had a population of 2,131 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Latakia Governorate. Its inhabitants and those of the

Jabal al-Akrad Jabal al-Akrad ( ar, جبل الأكراد ''Jabal al-Akrād'', ''Mountain of the Kurds'') is a rural mountainous region with an elevation that ranges from 400 to 1,000 meters above sea level, in northwestern Syria along the Syrian Coastal Moun ...

area 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 about 80% of the Latakia District's residents are

Alawite 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 Isl ...

s. Salma is well known for its dry climate and its plentiful clean water. It is situated about 800 meters above sea level. Prior to the

Baathist Ba'athism, also stylized as Baathism, (; ar, البعثية ' , from ' , meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"Hans Wehr''Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' (4th ed.), page 80) is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation ...

takeover of Syria in the 1960s, Salma was one of the few places in the coastal mountain region to be electrified and connected to a grid.

Syrian civil war

During the Syrian civil war, as of late July 2012 the FSA controlled the town, whose population has mostly left (part to

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

city and part to

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 ...

). The FSA said that they were able to hold on to Salma thanks to its mountainous nature and the fact that it is surrounded by

Sunni 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 disagr ...

villages.Syrian Young men take up arms in Syria's west
Al Jazeera, Aug 29, 2012 It was on the front line of fighting in Latakia Governorate between rebels and government forces for a lengthy period of time.Sherlock, Ruth

''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''. 2012-12-17. In November 2013, reporter

Jonathan Steele Jonathan Steele may refer to: *Jonathan Steele (journalist), British journalist and author * Jonathan Steele (comics), the comic book series * Jonny Steele, footballer See also *Jon Steel Jon Steel , full name Jonathan Steel (born 14 March 19 ...

claimed that the town was the Latakia governorate headquarters of both

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

and the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. On 9 November 2015, it was reported that for over a month the Syrian Armed Forces had conducted several small military operations inside the Latakia Governorate in order to prepare for a much larger battle that was expected to take place in the rebel stronghold of Salma. By the end of November, the capture of Kafr Dulbeh and Katf Al-Ghaddar had brought the Syrian Armed Forces forces to the gates of Salma. On 12 January 2016, the Syrian army with allies recaptured the town of Salma and the nearby village of Tirtyah. Rebels said the town was subjected to intense Russian airstrikes and that most remaining residents had fled towards the Turkish border.Lacking reinforcements, rebel mountain stronghold falls to regime
''Syria: Direct'' 13 January 2016

References

Bibliography

* {{Latakia Governorate, haffah Populated places in al-Haffah District