Ottoman era
During the Ottoman Empire era of rule in Syria between the 16th and 19th centuries, Idlib served as the capital of a kada ("subdistrict capital") bearing its name, part of the larger Vilayet of Aleppo ("Province of Aleppo.") The city was a center of olive production which in turn gave way to a prosperous olive-based soap industry. Although the major markets for Idlib's soap were at Aleppo, Antioch and Hama, the product was exported as far as the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. Idlib was also a major producer of cotton fabrics. Western traveler Josias Leslie Porter noted that Idlib was "encompassed in olive groves, rare in this bleak region." He further remarked that its olives groves were larger than those of Damascus, Beirut or Gaza. In the mid-19th-century the town had an estimated population of 8,000, including 500 Christians. In the late 19th-century, Idlib was "flourishing" and contained a number of Christian families according to German writers working for Karl Baedeker.
Syrian civil war
Idlib has been an opposition stronghold during the Syrian civil war against the government of Bashar al-Assad. In January 2012, the BBC reported that over 250 people had been killed on 19–20 December 2011 by Syrian armed forces.
The city and nearby towns have been targeted for hosting large numbers of armed groups such as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other opponents of the government. Beginning in March, the Syrian armed forces began shelling parts of Idlib and nearby towns in an attempt to clear the area of FSA fighters. On 13 March, the Syrian army captured the city after a three-day operation. Local reports indicated between 16 and 45 people, including children, were killed in the government assault against the FSA in Idlib. Between 11-15 March, 114 people were reported killed in Idlib according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
On 30 April 2012, many security buildings in the centre
