Ar-Rastan
Encyclopedia
Al-Rastan is one of the largest cites in the Homs Governorate
Homs Governorate
Homs Governorate is one of the fourteen muhafazat of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from 40,940 km². to 42,223 km² . It is thus geographically the largest governorate of Syria. Homs Governorate has a population of 1,763,000 . The capital is...

 and is situated 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) north of the capital city of Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...

 and 22 kilometres (13.7 mi) from Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...

. It is in the centre of Syria. Al-Rastan has one of the oldest dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s which can contain 225 million m³ of Orontes River
Orontes River
The Orontes or ‘Āṣī is a river of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey.It was anciently the chief river of the Levant, also called Draco, Typhon and Axius...

 river. It is the site of the ancient Arethusa
Arethusa (see)
Arethusa is a Roman Catholic titular see in the former Roman province of Syria, near Apameia. The modern, Arabic name of the site is Er-Rastan....

.

Al Rastan was the site of sustained bombardment by Syrian government troops during the 2011 Syrian uprising
2011 Syrian uprising
The 2011 Syrian uprising is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. Protests started on 26 January 2011, and escalated into an uprising by 15 March 2011...

,Witnesses said that troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, moved into Rastan on 27 September after hitting the town overnight with heavy gunfire. A lieutenant who defected to the Free Syrian Army
Free Syrian Army
The Free Syrian Army is the main opposition army group in Syria. It is composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel, who have been active during the 2011 Syrian uprising...

old Al Jazeera by satellite phone that 400 tanks had moved into Rastan. The state run news agency, SANA, said life was back to normal in Rastan on 2 October after five days of intense fighting between the military and forces opposed to President Bashar Assad. An activist called Rami Abdul-Rahman told Associated Press that Syrian military retook Rastan after army defectors pulled out of the town. At least 27 people were said to have been killed in battle At least 7 of the dead were Syrian soldiers and police,and 10 were army defectors.
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