Nubl and al-Zahraa were under
siege by the anti-government
Free Syrian Army (FSA),
al-Nusra Front (
al-Qaeda's Syrian branch), and
Ahrar al-Sham. Movement out of Nubl was severely curtailed, and it relied on goods being airlifted by the
Syrian Army. Although relations between the inhabitants of Nubl and the surrounding villages were normally friendly, during the ongoing
Syrian civil war, anti-government supporters from nearby Sunni villages have claimed that Nubl and al-Zahraa hosted
pro-government militias that have launched attacks against opposition supporters. There were numerous tit-for-tat kidnappings between Nubl and pro-opposition villages in the vicinity. After months of rebel siege and continuous reciprocal kidnappings, popular committees in the two towns agreed to begin negotiations with Sunni rebels on 27 March 2013. The agreement to negotiate was organised by Kurdish parties from the neighboring
Kurd Dagh region, which is controlled by Kurdish fighters of the
PYD. The talks were brokered by Kurds, and several kidnapped individuals were freed on both sides. On 3 February 2016, an
offensive by the
Syrian Arab Army and
Hezbollah ended the siege. On 30 November 2024, the Kurdish-led
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of the city amidst the
attack on Aleppo and the subsequent retreat of
pro-government forces, to evacuate Kurdish civilians and
IDPs from the
Shahba Canton. Afterwards, militants affiliated with
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took over the city. ==See also==