Shaykh Najjar (, also spelled Sheikh Najjar), sometimes referred to as Aleppo Industrial City, is an industrial city in northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' ) is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of the t ...

, located 10 kilometers northeast of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

.Aleppo clashes have a high price
. ''Syria Today''. October 2012. Nearby localities include Kafr Saghir to the north,

al-Muslimiyah Al-Muslimiyah (, also spelled Muslimiyeh, Moslemiye, Msalamiyyah or al-Musalmiya), commonly known as Mouslimié, is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Mount Simeon District of the Aleppo Governorate, located north of Aleppo. ...

to the northwest, Tell Shaghib to the south and Fah to the southeast. According to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Shaykh Najjar had a population of 2,588 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Aleppo Governorate.

Industrial city

Shaykh Najjar is a relatively new development and is the closest Syrian industrial center to the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. By 2010–11, there were 1,923 companies operating in the industrial zone. About 40% of the firms inside the city are Turkish-owned. In addition to proximity, Turkish business owners benefit from tariff-free trade agreements between Syria and Turkey as well as the tariff-free exports of Turkish products made in Syria to the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. Investors that open businesses inside the industrial zone are able to be assigned land and have the documents to proceed operations within 24 hours. Shaykh Najjar is seen as one of the first urban developments built outside the ring roads of Aleppo. According to Anna Irene Del Monaco, an Italian researcher of urban landscapes, Shaykh Najjar has the potential of reducing the "proliferation of industrial zones in the fabric inside the ring roads" and would absorb more workers from the countryside of Aleppo. During the ongoing Syrian civil war which began in 2011, clashes between the opposition rebels and government forces have resulted in the destruction of hundreds of businesses in Aleppo, including in Shaykh Najjar. According to a ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'' report from 4 October 2012, the industrial zone "is now little more than a ghost town where guards try to protect some factories at great risk to their lives." By October 2012, around 20 pharmaceutical plants discontinued production, causing the potential risk of a medicine shortage. By April 2021, 685 establishments had returned to the industrial city. On 30 November 2024, the

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

took control of the city amidst the attack on Aleppo and the subsequent withdrawal of the pro-government forces. On 2 December 2024,

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

captured the Sheikh Najjar industrial zone from the SDF.

References

{{Aleppo Governorate, simeon Populated places in Mount Simeon District