 In September 2015, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ISIS jihadists murdered seven men in the town, accusing them of "being homosexual".In the northside of the city, the al-Bassel National Hospital is a major army base for government troops and is often the target of rebel shelling.On 16 May 2018, the Syrian government established control over city after the last rebels were transported to the Idlib Governorate.