Homs - Syrian Revolution's 'Capital'

Homs, Syria's third largest city, has been a key battleground in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. 

It was dubbed the "capital of the revolution" after residents embraced the call to overthrow the president in early 2011 and much of the city fell under the control of the opposition.

However, over the past two years government forces have retaken most of the opposition strongholds, laying siege to areas once home to tens of thousands of people and forcing rebel fighters into the Old City.By the end of January 2014, only the Old City was still held by the opposition. Up to 3,000 civilians are believed to have been trapped there for 550 days, without access to food and medical supplies and under repeated bombardment by artillery and aircraft.

Parts of the city have been reduced to rubble, but civilians in besieged areas cannot get out

 

Homs has long been of geographic, strategic and economic importance
Homs is situated at the centre of a fertile agricultural region along the Orontes river valley at the eastern end of the Homs Gap - the only natural gateway from Syria's Mediterranean coast to the interior. It is also roughly halfway between Damascus and Aleppo, and close to Lebanon.

Homs is one of Syria's most important industrial centres, boasting the country's largest oil refinery

Before the uprising, the population of Homs and its surroundings were estimated at 1.5 million.
Most of the inhabitants were Sunni Muslims, who lived mostly in western, northern and eastern districts. About 10% were Christians, who occupied much of the Old City, and some 25% were members of the president's Alawite sect, concentrated in south-eastern areas