Ashrafiyat Sahnaya
أشرفية صحنايا
Ashrafiyat Sahnaya is located in Syria
Ashrafiyat Sahnaya
Ashrafiyat Sahnaya
Coordinates: 33°26′02″N 36°14′42″E / 33.434°N 36.245°E / 33.434; 36.245
Country Syria
GovernorateRif Dimashq
DistrictDarayya
SubdistrictSahnaya
Population
 (2004 census)[1]
 • Total30,519
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Ashrafiyat Sahnaya (Arabic: أشرفية صحنايا, romanized: ʾAshrafīyat Ṣahnāyā, also spelled Ashrafiah Sahnaya) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located southwest of Damascus. Nearby localities include Darayya to the north, Sahnaya to the south, and al-Sabinah to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 30,519 in the 2004 census.[1] Ashrafiyat Sahnaya is one of the few towns in the Ghouta with a majority Druze community, along with Jaramana, Sahnaya and Deir Ali.[2]

Syrian Civil War

Main article: Ashrafiyat Sahnaya chemical attack

On 25 August 2013, fighting occurred between Syrian Army soldiers and opposition fighters in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya. At around 18:00, the rebels started to throw objects with a catapult. Around 20:00 an object was thrown at a group of five Syrian Army soldiers. The object landed 10–15 meters from them, and released a badly smelling gas. The five soldiers were immediately taken to a field medical point where they were treated with injections, eye droplets and oxygen. They were then transported to Martyr Yusuf Al Azmah Military Hospital for emergency care, where medical personnel took blood samples of them. The blood samples tested positive for sarin.[3]: 17–18, 71–78  Five days after the incident, the victims were interviewed by the United Nations Mission to Investigate Alleged Uses of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic.[3]: 73 

References

  1. ^ a b General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. (in Arabic)
  2. ^ Firro, Kais (1992). A History of the Druzes. Vol. 1. BRILL. p. 34. ISBN 9004094377.
  3. ^ a b "United Nations Mission on Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic" (PDF). United Nations. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014.


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