The 17th Division is a
division of the
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Ground Forces ( Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army ( Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the co ...
, active before and after 2003.
The 17th Armored Division was established after the beginning of the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...
, by the end of the third year of the war (September 1983). Brigadier General Iyad Futaykh Khalifa al-Rawi 'completed the setting up' of the division. It was in the field in the
2nd Corps sector in 1982–1984 south of Khanaqin on the Iran–Iraq border; 2nd Corps was at that point headquartered at
Baqubah
Baqubah ( ar, بَعْقُوبَة; BGN: Ba‘qūbah; also spelled Baquba and Baqouba) is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The city is located some to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River. In 2003 it had an estimated populatio ...
. One of its early commanders, possibly its first commander, was Brigadier General Saber 'Abd al-'Aziz. A later map in Malovany's book shows the division deployed between Tursaq and Zirbatiya, under 2nd Corps almost directly east of Baghdad, until circa September 1985.
It may have been in the 9th Corps during the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
of 1991.
After 2003, its headquarters was reported to be at
Mahmadiyah, and its commander Staff Maj. Gen.
Ali Jassam Mohammad
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 common era, CE) was the last of four Rashidun, Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was ...
. "In August 2008, the newly selected commanding general of the newly formed 17th IA division was a
well-regarded, competent brigade commander—a good choice." Up until about mid-2014, the 17th Division was made up of a Headquarters and Service Company, the 23rd, 25th, and 55th Brigades, and the 17th Motor Transportation Regiment
Ricklefs wrote in October 2017 that the "17th Division appears to have performed well in southern
Ninewa."
As of December 2017 it included the 23rd, 25th, 55th, and 60th Brigades as part of the Mid-Euphrates Operational Command.
Notes
References
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*
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* {{Cite web, last=Ricklefs, first=Norman, url=https://www.iraqincontext.com/single-post/2017/10/10/The-Iraqi-Military-After-Mosul-A-time-for-consolidation, title = The Iraqi Military After Mosul: A time for consolidation, date = 10 October 2017
Further reading
* Kenneth M. Pollack, ''Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948–91'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002
External links
* DJ Elliott
Iraqi Army Forces in the Center "Montrose Toast," February 2011
Divisions of Iraq
Military units and formations established in the 1980s