Saadnayel

Saadnayel
سعدنايل
Town
Saadnayel is located in Lebanon
Saadnayel
Saadnayel
Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 33°49′12″N 35°52′58″E / 33.82000°N 35.88278°E / 33.82000; 35.88278
Country Lebanon
GovernorateBeqaa Governorate
DistrictZahlé
Elevation
2,990 ft (910 m)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)+3

Saadnayel (Arabic: سعدنايل) is a town in the Bekaa Valley in the Zahlé District of Lebanon. It has a population of around 20,000 Lebanese, mostly Sunni Muslims.[1][2]

Saadnayel lies 47 kilometres (29 mi) from Beirut.[3] The town is located strategically near the crossroads between the Beirut-Damascus highway and the main road connecting the northern and southern Beqaa.[4]

History

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Saadnayel's population being Sunni Muslim.[5]

The town has been the site of sporadic Sunni-Shia violence. In 2008, four individuals were wounded in armed clashes between anti-Syrian majority supporters and Hezbollah-led opposition in Lebanon; the clashes involved use of machine guns, mortars, and rockets in Saadnayel. Despite the army's presence, they did not intervene.[6]

Up to 35,000 refugees of the Syrian Civil War have also settled in the town.[7]

References

  1. ^ Rami Ruhayem (9 September 2014). "Is Islamic State heading for Lebanon?". BBC News. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  2. ^ Nour Samaha (26 January 2015). "'Here the dead are dead, and the living are dead'". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Saadnayel". Localiban. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  4. ^ Michael Young (13 Apr 2010). The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle (illustrated ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-4391-0945-8.
  5. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 142
  6. ^ "Four wounded in Lebanon sectarian clashes". Al Arabiya News. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  7. ^ Nour Samaha (26 January 2015). "'Here the dead are dead, and the living are dead'". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

Bibliography