Talkalakh ( ar, تَلْكَلَخ, Talkalaḵ) is a city in western
Syria administratively belonging to the
Homs Governorate
Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographic ...
as the capital of the
Talkalakh District
Talkalakh District ( ar-at, منطقة تلكلخ, manṭiqat Talkalaḫ) is a district of the Homs Governorate in central Syria. Administrative centre
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a cou ...
just north of the border with
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
and west of
Homs. According to the
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Talkalakh had a population of 18,412 in 2004.
[General Census of Population and Housing 2004](_blank)
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Homs Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly
Sunni Muslims, while the surrounding villages are mostly 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 Isl ...
. Most of the city's
Sunni Muslim residents have fled as a result of the ongoing
Syrian civil war.
People in the city depend on trade and public services as the main source of income. It has six
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s and two main small squares: Al Hurria and Al Saha Al Amma Squares.
History
During the
Ottoman era, between the 18th and 19th centuries, Talkalakh was home to the wealthy and influential Danadisha (also spelled Dandashi) clan. They stiffly competed with Hammadi family and the al-Jundi family of
Homs and
Hama.
Syrian civil war
On May 15, 2011, as a part of the
Syrian civil war, the
Syrian Army shelled Talkalakh in response to attacks on the army that occurred a day before in the city. Seven civilians were killed and at least 2,000 residents tried to flee from the city into Lebanon.
A resident claimed that
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 ...
militias were targeting the
Sunni inhabitants, assuring that "The city of Talkalakh is empty of people. Most of them have fled to Lebanon,". The remainder of its Sunni residents continued protesting against the government hoping to topple the Alawite-dominated government.
On 12 February 2013, a CNN report from inside Talkalakh revealed that the town itself was under rebel control, though government forces were only a matter of yards away, surrounding the town. Nevertheless, there was no fighting in or around the town thanks to a tenuous ceasefire between the warring sides brokered by a local sheikh and an Alawite member of parliament. The ceasefire ended in June 2013, when government forces drove out the rebels and took control of the town.
References
Bibliography
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{{Homs Governorate, talkalakh
Cities in Syria
Alawite communities in Syria
Populated places in Talkalakh District