Qayyarah or Qayara () is an

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 ...

i town located in southern

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

on the west bank of the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

river, and about 60 km (35 miles) south of

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 ...

. It is located in the

Mosul District Mosul District () is a district in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. Its administrative center is the city of Mosul. Other settlements include Al-Qayyarah, Al-Shurah, Hamam al-Alil, Al-Mahlaah, and Hamidat. The district is predominantly Sunni Arab, w ...

, and it is the seat of

Qayyarah subdistrict The Qayyarah or Qayara () subdistrict is part of Mosul District in southern Nineveh Governorate on the west bank of Tigris river in Iraq. Its seat is the town of Qayyarah. The population in Qayyara subdistrict is primarily Sunni Muslim Arabs, be ...

. It has a population of 15,000. The town is located near the Qayyarah oil field and has an oil refinery on its south-western outskirts. The

Qayyarah Airfield West Qayyarah Airfield West () is an Iraqi Air Force base in the Qayyarah subdistrict of Mosul District in northern Iraq. It was captured by U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. It was also known as Q–West or Key West by the various U. ...

is 20 kilometers west of the town. The town and subdistrict fell to the

Islamic State of 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 ...

in June 2014. It was reported that its recapture was of strategic importance for the offensive to retake Mosul in 2016. In August 2016, Qayyarah was fully captured by Iraqi forces, with Lieutenant General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq stating that they controlled all parts of the city and Prime Minister

Haider al-Abadi Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government afte ...

hailing the capture of the city as a "key step in the fight" against ISIL. In July 2016,

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

said they were sending another 560 troops to Iraq, mainly to develop the Qayyarah airfield and use it as support for the planned attack on Mosul. Following the town's liberation, members of the

Jubur Jubur (, also spelled Jebour, Jibour, Jubour, Jabur, Jaburi, Jebouri, and Jabara) is the largest Arab tribe in Iraq that scattered throughout central Iraq. Part of the tribe settled in Hawija and Kirkuk in the eighteenth century. Al-Jiburi, alon ...

tribe from Qayyarah and surrounding villages formed the

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 ...

' 39th Regiment (nicknamed "Commandos of al-Jubur" or "Lions of the Tigris") to fight against

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 ...

. This unit subsequently took part in the

Battle of Mosul (2016–2017) The Battle of Mosul (, ''Ma'rakat al-Mawṣil'') was a major battle initiated by the Iraqi Government forces with allied forces to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL), which had seized the city years prior in June 2014. I ...

. The town's name derives from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word for

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black b ...

. Qayyarah is largely populated by

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 ...

Arabs 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 yea ...

. Qayyarah has been known for its bitumen springs since at least the middle ages.

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

passed through Qayyarah and described how its bitumen was exported to other towns; Shihab al-Din al-'Umari also noted that Qayyarah's bitumen springs produced a large revenue for the sultans.

Notable people

Farhan Jubouri Farhan Mutlaq Saleh al-Jubouri () was an Iraqi intelligence officer who served as the head of Directorate of General Military Intelligence, General Military Intelligence in northern Iraq during the al-Anfal campaign. He was born in the 1940s. Mil ...

, Iraqi intelligence officer * Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri, Iraqi army officer

References

External links

{{Commons category Populated places on the Tigris River Populated places in Nineveh Governorate