Darat Izza
Darat Izza (, also spelled Darat Aza or Darit Izza) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Aleppo Governorate, located northwest of Aleppo. Nearby localities include Deir Samaan to the north, Anadan to the east and Turmanin to the southwest. Population According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Darat Izza had a population of 13,525 in the 2004 census. In 2013, its metropolitan area had a population of 41,953. History Leading to Darat Izza is a well-preserved stretch of an ancient Roman road dating to the 2nd century CE. During the Ottoman Empire era, Darat Izza was well known for the cotton fabrics it produced. During the Syrian Civil war against the government of Bashar al-Assad, On June 23, 2012, 25 government supporters were killed in the town by members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The government claimed they were ordinary citizens while the FSA and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed they were pro-government Shabiha militiamen. They were part of a larger group kidnapped by a rebel group. The fate of the others kidnapped was unknown. Many of the corpses of the shabiha militia killed were in military uniform. A secondary school