Tuz Khurmatu (, , , also spelled as Tuz Khurma and Tuz Khormato) is the central city of Tooz District in Saladin Governorate,

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 ...

, located south of

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

. Its inhabitants are predominantly Shia Turkmen, with a minority of

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 ...

and

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 ...

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

Etymology

The name of the city is in the local Iraqi Turkmen dialect, meaning ''salt and dates''.

History

Naphtha, oil and asphalt was found in the town in the 18th century. The city was populated by both

and Turkmens in the 19th century. Claudius Rich visited the town in 1820 and stated that the town had a population of 50,000. In 1882 Major General Gerard visited the town and stated that the town had a bazaar, 300 houses, 100 regulars and 30 ''zaptiyehs.'' The town was captured by

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in May 1918 and were met with joy from the locals. The local Hamawand tribe would offer their assistance to secure the area. In 1925, Tuz Khurmatu’s population was entirely Turkmen, except for some Jewish families (35 out of 405 families). 40% of the population was Kurdish in the 1947 census. In 1991, Tooz District was separated from Kirkuk Governorate and attached to Saladin Governorate for

Arabization Arabization or Arabicization () is a sociology, sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arabs, Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic, Arabic language, Arab cultu ...

purposes. The population of the town was 75,737 the subsequent year, and decreased to 51,998 in 1987. The town participated in the 1991 Iraqi uprising before being suppressed by the Ba'athist Iraqi army.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

* On June 2, 2005, at least 12 people were killed and at least 40 wounded in an explosion targeting a restaurant. * On June 23, 2005, a car bomb detonated by remote control hit an Iraqi police patrol, killing one policeman and wounding 7 civilians. * On September 20, 2005, insurgents detonated a car bomb targeting Shiite worshippers as they were exiting the Hussainiyat al-Rasoul al-Azam mosque, killing at least 10 and wounding 21 others. * On March 14, 2007, a suicide bomber struck a market and killing 8 and wounding 25.

Operation New Dawn

* On September 7, 2010, the first US casualties after President Barack Obama declared an end to US combat operations took place near the city when Iraqi insurgents killed 2 US military personnel.

Post-U.S. withdrawal and Iraqi Civil War

* On October 27, 2012, a car bombing next to a building owned by a Shi'ite endowment killed two civilians and injured ten others. * On December 17, 2012, two consecutive car bombings hit a residential area near the city's General Hospital, killing 11 civilians and injuring 45 others. The attacks were part of a country-wide wave of violence that killed almost 100 people in a single day. * On January 16, 2013, a suicide car bombing at the offices of the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...

killed 5 and injured 40 others. * On January 23, 2013, a suicide bomber blew himself up during a funeral for a politician's relative in the city, killing 42 and leaving 75 others wounded. * In November 2015, the town experienced clashes between the Kurdish Peshmerga and Shia Popular Mobilization Forces that claimed 11 lives, wounded over 20 people, and damaged over 200 houses through arson committed by both sides. A truce was reached soon after. * On November 28, 2015, an IS suicide bomber bombed a town checkpoint, killing 6.

References