The operation on its liberation was initiated on January 24. The 25th Special Mission Forces Division and the 4th Armoured Division liberated about 45 nearby settlements and towns and marched towards Maarat al-Numan from south, west, and east. The jihadists suffered heavy losses during the assault, more than 150 radicals were killed, and about 400 were severely wounded.
Since then, the Syrian government media outlets, including SANA news agency, have been trying to emphasize the successful step of the SAA. However, the Western mainstream media do not share their enthusiasm. For instance, Yeni Şafak and France 24 correspondence try to cover the situation from another angle.
The Western press sympathies to the militants and claims that under heavy airstrikes and shellings of the Government forces the residential areas and urban infrastructure have been completely destroyed. They also report that Maarat al-Numan is a demolished and ruined ghost town in which the jihadists are composed of martyrs, who have been driven out from native land. Is this so? Or should we trust SANA more?f
It is worth noting that for the past eight years the city of Maarat al-Numan had been run by various opposition groups. The pro-Turkish Free Syrian Army militants were the first who captured the city after the fierce clashes with the Syrian Army in 2012. However, in 2016 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham radicals started to squeeze them.
From 2017 to 2019, the city and its residents were victims of the struggle for influence, which led to a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The locals also say that the jihadists imposed high taxes and took away their property under the pretext of counteracting supporters of Bashar Assad.
In September 2019, the Syrian Army opened humanitarian corridors in Al-Hadher, Abu al-Duhur and Al–Hubeit through which around 50 thousand people fled Maarat al-Numan, as well as the Idlib province. The city was almost empty, only radicals with their families stayed there. The liberation of Maarat al-Numan in January 2020 was the logical conclusion of a long-term operation to destroy the militant groups and restore peace in the region.
Along with the SAA, some military reporters entered the city to demonstrate the results of the assault. The photographs, published by journalists, showed that everything is not as critical as the Western press told: most of the buildings, power lines and roadways remained intact.
Maarat al-Numan after liberation by the SAA
Moreover, cultural monuments also remained in one piece. The minaret of the Great Mosque of Maarrat al-Numan still overtops the city. It is worth noting the Maarat al-Numan Museum construction state. In October 2012, before leaving the city, the personnel of the museum hid the entire exposition in a small warehouse of the museum to prevent theft and damage of valuable exhibits. Ghazi Al-Ulya, the head of Idlib Antiquities Center, stated that the exhibits, like the museum building itself, were out of danger.
He also noted that a multi-level command post of militants was located under the museum building. This is not the first time when terrorists use historical sites for command posts. This method helps the radicals to prevent the destruction of their shelters, as government forces are prohibited from attacking cultural heritage sites.
Ghazi Al-Ulya in the catacombs under the museum
In fact, the photo and video materials of Maarat al-Numan are not much different from those, taken in Douma and Eastern Ghouta, previously liberated by the Syrian army, where the situation gradually returns to normal.
A completely different situation has developed during the liberation of Raqqa by Kurdish units of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the US-led international coalition. For five months the city was almost reduced to powder. For a total, the airstrikes of the coalition killed more than 2,500 civilians and destroyed more than 11,000 buildings.
Pictures of Raqqa and Maarat al-Numan after liberation
