Abu Kamal (), also known as Al-Bukamal (), is a city in eastern Syria located on the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

river in the

Deir ez-Zor Governorate Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr,'' Kurdish'':'' ''Parêzgeha Dêrezor'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. It has an area of 33,060 k ...

and near the border with Iraq. It is the administrative centre of the

Abu Kamal District Abu Kamal District () is a district of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in northeastern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Abu Kamal. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 265,142. The Euphrates divides the district, with H ...

and the local subdistrict (Abu Kamal Subdistrict). Just to the south-east is the

Al-Qa'im border crossing Al-Qa'im border crossing () between Syria and Iraq is one of the major supply routes across the Middle East. It connects the town of Abu Kamal in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate to the city of Husaybah, in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Anbar G ...

to the town of

Husaybah Husaybah () is a city on the Euphrates river in the Al-Qa'im District of Al-Anbar province in Iraq, adjacent to the Al-Qa'im border crossing to Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eas ...

in the

Al-Qa'im District Al-Qa'im District () is a district in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq, on the border with Syria. It is centred on the town of Al-Qa'im. The Euphrates river flows through it. At its western end, in the city of Husaybah, is the Al-Qa'im border crossi ...

of Iraq's

Al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

Etymology

When part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, Abu Kamal was called ''kışla'', pronounced locally as "qashla", which is a Turkish word for "military barracks". This name "Qashla" is still used by some inhabitants of the area, especially by elderly villagers. The name "Al-Bukamal" () means "the family of Kamal", Kamal being the tribe that lives there, whereas the name "Abu Kamal" means "the father of Kamal".

History

In the 17th century, Abu Kamal was the seat of a

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

of the

in the

Rakka Eyalet The eyalet of Rakka or Urfa (; ) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was . The eyalet was created in 1586 on territory previously under the jurisdiction of Diyarbekir. By Stefan Winter In the 16th century, ...

. It was a

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

(subdistrict) center within

Zor Sanjak The Sanjak of Zor () was a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire, which was created in 1857. Some of its area was separated from the Baghdad Vilayet. Zor was sometimes mentioned as being part of the Aleppo Vilayet,

until the end of Ottoman rule in 1918. In 1896, the old mud village was relocated a mile upstream because it was in danger of being ruined by flooding. The new village was built from stone and had wide streets. The village and its subdistrict formed the center of the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Uqaydat tribe and was largely

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, with the exception of a small Christian community originally from

Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor () is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 ...

and

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century, it contained eighty houses, the residence of the ''

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

'' (kaza governor), a police station, a ferry, and had a population of about 500. The kaza of Abu Kamal in 1890 had a population of 15,000. Abu Kamal became part of the French

Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territories ...

in 1921, and the French made it the seat of a large garrison. In 1946 it became part of independent

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Abu Kamal's position at the border of Syria and Iraq has made it an important commercial as well as political center. Abu Kamal is located near to Al-Qa'im, a crossing point for the Iraqi insurgency and the location of

Operation Steel Curtain Operation Steel Curtain (Arabic: الحجاب الفولاذي Al Hejab Elfulathi) was a military operation executed by coalition forces in early November 2005 to reduce the flow of foreign insurgents crossing the border and joining the Iraqi ...

in November 2005. On 27 October 2008, during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, four US helicopters carried out a raid on the village of Sukkariyeh in Abu Kamal district. It was the first known raid inside Syria by the US. News reports indicate that at least seven people were killed, four of them children. The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated that "Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression."

Syrian Civil War

During the Syrian Civil War, in late July 2012, the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

(FSA) took over the town, along with its associated border post with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. In early September 2012,

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

reported that the Hamdan military airport was under attack by FSA. On 16 November 2012, FSA took over the nearby Hamdan military airport, which was once used to transport farm produce, but was converted to a base for helicopters and military tanks. The capture of Hamdan meant that the Syrian Army forces now only held one air base in the province - the main military airport in

city.

ISIL takeover

Abu Kamal was captured by

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

forces between late-June and early-July 2014 during a three-month offensive across Deir ez-Zor Governorate. On 3 July 2014, SOHR said that city of

Mayadin Mayadin (/ALA-LC: ''al-Miyādīn'') is a town in eastern Syria. It is the capital of the Mayadin District, part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. Mayadin is about 44 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. The Euphrates River flows through the town ...

, the second biggest town in Deir Ezzor province, was also "now under IS control, after Al-Nusra Front evacuated its headquarters there, and IS raised its banner". On 3 July 2014, all towns and villages on the route from Abu Kamal to Al-Bab, passing through the Raqqa province, were under Islamic State control. Owing to its distance from the frontline, the town would see little fighting between its capture by ISIL in 2014 and ISIL's retreat in 2017. During the lull in conflict, the town was the target of a failed opposition attack by the US-backed New Syrian Army in June 2016; the offensive lasted only a day and led to a total reversal of New Syrian Army advances to Abu Kamal. On October 14, 2017 the Syrian Arab Army took the city of Mayadin, located 80 kilometers from Abu Kamal. After that Abu Kamal was the only large city that remained under ISIL control. On October 25, the road Al Qaim – Abu Kamal – Mayadin – Deir ez-Zor was blocked after a series of airstrikes conducted by Russian Air Force. From 1 to 4 November 6 Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers conducted airstrikes on ISIL objects near Abu Kamal. On November 7 the SAA started operation to take Abu Kamal with support of allied forces, like the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). On 9 November 2017, ISIL retreated from the town, leaving fighters dispersed in villages and small towns in the desert. Army spokesman Gen. Ali Mayhoub stated:

″The liberation of Abu Kamal is of great importance because it is a declaration of the fall of this group’s project in the region generally and the collapse of its supporters’ illusions to divide it, control large parts of the Syria-Iraq borders and secure supply routes between the two countries.″

One day later Commander of the Russian force grouping in Syria Colonel General Sergei Surovikin confirmed the retaking of Abu Kamal:

“Units of the 5th Assault Corps, assault groups of brigadier general Suheil and militias with support of Russian Air Force took part in liberating Abu Kamal. In the final stages of hostilities the Syrian Arab Army gained control over the Syrian-Iraqi border near the Euphrates River”.

However, on November 11 the city was recaptured by ISIL. The Syrian Army and its allies retook complete control of the city by 19 November. Concerns have been raised about what would happen to the village once ISIL was removed.

Iranian presence

Following the elimination of ISIS, Iranian-allied militias have occupied Abu Kamal and its countryside since late 2017. Since the end of 2017, the Iraqi

Popular Mobilization Forces The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF; ), also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iranian-backed paramilitary umbrella group that operates within Iraq. Although formally and legally part of the Iraqi Armed Forces and reportin ...

, which are linked to the Iranian

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

(IRGC), had control of the

al-Qa'im border crossing Al-Qa'im border crossing () between Syria and Iraq is one of the major supply routes across the Middle East. It connects the town of Abu Kamal in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate to the city of Husaybah, in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Anbar G ...

, while Hezbollah and the Haidarion, Fatemiyoun and Zainebiyoun militias had control of

, west of Abu Kamal, both on the south bank of the

Euphrates River The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

. The

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

(SDF) had control of the north bank.Report: Five killed in missile strike on pro-Iranian militias in Syria
/ref>

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

reported on 4 September that a new “classified Iranian project”, the Imam Ali military base, was being constructed near Abu Kamal, which was confirmed by satellite images. On 30 September 2019, after eight years of closure, Syria and Iraq reopened the

between Abu Kamal and Al-Qa'im. On 27 October 2023 the US carried out air strikes against bases near the town that it claimed were being used by

. The US said that these were in response to Iranian backed attacks on its bases in the region. On 10 December, the opposition announced the capture of Al-Bukamal.

Climate

Abu Kamal has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWh'') in the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system.

Notable people

* Yusuf Zuayyin twice

Prime Minister of Syria The prime minister of Syria (), officially the president of the Council of Ministers of the Syrian Arab Republic, was the head of government of Syria from 1920 to 2025. After the fall of the Assad regime, the prime minister of Syria was the head ...

. * Sufian Allaw Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Syria. *

Nawaf al-Fares Nawaf al-Fares () is the former Syrian ambassador to Iraq who defected from the ruling government led by Bashar al-Assad on 11 July 2012 during the Syrian Civil War. Career Fares was a veteran of Assad's rule and held senior positions as a l ...

Syrian ambassador to Iraq and defector. *

Saddam al-Jamal Saddam Omar al-Jamal (; born 1987) also known as Abu Ruqayya al-Ansari () is a Syrian jihadist militant of the Islamic State. He is known for taking part in the 2014 massacres of the Al-Shaitat tribe and for his involvement in the death of Jord ...

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

leader.

Gallery

File:Dura Abukamal.JPG,

Dura-Europos Dura-Europos was a Hellenistic, Parthian Empire, Parthian, and Ancient Rome, Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Al-Salihiyah, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, S ...

File:Abukamal tent.jpg, A

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tent at Abu Kamal File:Euph Abukamal.JPG, Sunset on the

File:Abukamal Mosque .jpg, The Great Mosque of Abu Kamal in evening

References

External links

Abu Kamal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukamal Cities in Syria Populated places in Abu Kamal District Populated places on the Euphrates River