Jisr al-Shughour
Jisser al-Shughour (, , also spelled Jisr al-Shughur) is a city in the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria. Situated at an altitude of above sea level on the Orontes river, the city was inhabited by 44,322 people as of 2010. The inhabitants are mostly Sunni Muslims, with a significant Christian minority, mostly Greek Orthodox. History. Jisser al-Shughour has long been an important stopping point on trade routes. It is situated on the main route between Latakia, which is to the west, and Aleppo, which is to the east. Located in the rich alluvial plain of the  Ghab valley on the eastern side of the An-Nusayriyah Mountains (also known as "Jebel Ansariye"), the area has been continuously inhabited for over 10,000 years. The ancient city of Qarqar is thought to have been situated some south of the modern town, which was established in Hellenistic times as the city of Seleucia ad Belum. The Romans called it "Niaccuba" and built a stone bridge there across the Orontes. During the Crusader era, there was Chastel Rugia to the east, and another two castles, "Qalaat al-Shughr" and "Bakas," which formed Shughr-Bakas complex to the northwest of Jisser  al-Shughour, to be used to defend the region, until they were captured by Saladin in 1188. Little remains of the ancient city other than portions of the much-repaired Roman bridge, which is now incorporated into a 15th-century Mameluke construction that still serves as one of the city's two bridges over the river. The bridge's V-shaped design was intended to enable it to withstand the force of the river's current. Although Jisser al-Shughour is mostly of modern construction, a number of old Ottoman-era buildings still survive, including a caravanserai built in the  centre of the old town between 1660–75 and later restored in 1826–27. The city has been described as conservative and predominately Sunni Muslim, with a history of unrest against the government of the ruling secular Arab nationalist Baath party. It was the scene of a mass killing by Syrian security forces in 1980 that prefigured the later and more notorious Hama massacre. On 9 March 1980, against a background of anti-government protests across Syria, inhabitants of Jisser al-Shughour marched on the local Ba'ath Party headquarters and set it on fire. The police were unable to restore order and  fled. Some demonstrators seized weapons and ammunition from a nearby army barracks. Later that day, units of the Syrian Army Special Forces were helicoptered in from Aleppo to regain control, which they did after pounding the town with rockets and mortars, destroying homes and shops and killing and wounding dozens of people. At least two hundred people were arrested. The following day a military tribunal ordered the execution of more than a hundred of the detainees. In all, about 150–200 people were said to have been killed in a matter of hours. Syrian civil war. Violence broke out in Jisser  al-Shughour on 4 June 2011, three months into the Syrian civil war. Armed groups attacked local security forces, killed 120 members of the security forces, and seized control of the city, with many civilians fleeing to Latakia. Activists speaking to the BBC denied the government's version of these events, claiming that the cause of these deaths was unclear and may have been an internal mutiny. The Syrian military launched an operation in a crackdown against the allegedly guilty armed groups. The operation lasted until 12 June 2011. The city was reported to have been largely abandoned by its  inhabitants, many of whom fled to neighbouring Turkey, as Syrian Army units massed outside to retake it. Over December 2011–January 2012, FSA took control, establishing a key rebel center. As of June 2012, the FSA was still in control, but by October 2012, the Syrian government was reported by Al Jazeera to be in control of the town. However, on 25 April 2015, the city was captured by an alliance of Salafist insurgents, including al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, and the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP). The city has become a stronghold of the TIP, and  reportedly 3,500 Uyghurs have since settled in the city. By July 2017, the city was under joint control of Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkistan Islamic Party. Syrian and Russian bombing of the city resumed in September 2017.