Al Zab, Al-Zab, or Az-Zab is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

administered as part of the

Kirkuk Governorate Kirkuk Governorate (; ; ) or Kirkuk Province is a governorate in northern Iraq. The governorate has an area of . In 2017, the estimated population was 1,259,561 people. The provincial capital is the city of Kirkuk. It is divided into four Distri ...

Hawija District Hawija District () is a district in Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq. Its administrative center is the city of Hawija. The district's approximately 150,000 inhabitants are mostly Sunni Arabs, with the rest being Shia Turkmens and Kaka'i Kurds ...

. Between 2014-2017, it was under the control of 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 ...

(ISIL) and was recaptured by Iraqi government forces during the Hawija offensive in September, 2017.

Geography

Al Zab is located just northeast of the

Little Zab The Little Zab or Lower Zab (, ''al-Zāb al-Asfal''; or '; , ''Zâb-e Kuchak''; , ''Zāba Taḥtāya'') is a river that originates in Iran and joins the Tigris just south of Al Zab in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Little Zab is approximatel ...

's confluence with the

Tigris River The Tigris ( ; see 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 and Arabian Deserts, before merging ...

in northeastern

History

Al Zab is situated just north of the former location of

Shenna Shenna is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Shenna Bellows (born 1975), American politician * Leila Shenna, Moroccan former actress See also * Shanna (disambiguation) * Sheena (disambiguation) Sheena may refer to ...

, a significant settlement during the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

, which was home to a Nestorian bishopric. Due to the rapid demographic growth of the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

population in

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

incorporated the predominantly

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 ...

district of Hawija, including Al Zab, into the Kirkuk Governorate in 1968 to facilitate easier control by his

Baath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

.. In December 2005, 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 ...

, a resistance

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

detonated near AlZab on its road to

Hawija Hawija (, Al-Ḥawīja) is the central town of Al-Hawija District in the Kirkuk Province of Iraq, west of Kirkuk, and north of Baghdad. The town has a population of about 480,000 inhabitants. Hawija District has approximately 520,000 inhabitan ...

, killing an American soldier.. Another bomb on the same road disabled an

armored vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...

and killed one soldier in January 2006. Al Zab was occupied by the

Islamic State 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 jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

during their Northern Iraq Offensive on 10 June 2014, the same day as the fall 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 thereafter became a center for their incursions into the

Salah al-Din Governorate The Saladin, Salah ad Din, or Salah Al-Din Governorate (, ) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with the capital being Tik ...

Al-Shirqat District Al-Shirqat District () is a district of Saladin Governorate, Iraq. The district's capital is the town of Al-Shirqat. Other settlements include Khanugiyah, Mukhayim, Qaryat al Ḩūrīyah al Jadīdah, Al-Khadraniyah, Aynah, Ijamasa, and Jamaf. T ...

.. In July 2016, they forcibly and hurriedly evacuated the town's civilian population, leaving them to shift in the desert while IS fighters constructed tunnels which they filled with oil. For its part, the Islamic State periodically publicizes its charitable works in the town...

References

{{reflist, 30em Cities in Iraq