Saqlawiyah

As Saqlāwīyah
city
As Saqlāwīyah
Coordinates: 33°23′47″N 43°41′0″E / 33.39639°N 43.68333°E / 33.39639; 43.68333Coordinates: 33°23′47″N 43°41′0″E / 33.39639°N 43.68333°E / 33.39639; 43.68333
Country  Iraq
Province Al-Anbar
Elevation 42 m (138 ft)
Population (2012)
  Total 25,000
Time zone GMT +3
  Summer (DST) +4 (UTC)

As Saqlāwīyah (Arabic: الصقلاوية) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, in central Iraq. It is located roughly 5 miles northwest of the city of Fallujah.

Saqlawiyah is a rural city in between Habbaniyah and Fallujah that sits on the major freeway. The City was named after an Arabian Mare of the Saqlawiyah strain of the Shammar Zawba clan. Due to the canal network that runs through the area, agriculture is an import identity to Saqlawiyans. Due to its proximity to the major freeway, there are many shops along the road that cater to the transient crowds.

ISIL control and recapture

Saqlawiyah came under ISIL control in September 2014 during the Siege of Saqlawiyah, as several hundred Iraqi soldiers were killed.[1]

In 2016, during the Siege of Fallujah and Operation Breaking Terrorism, there was intense fighting in the area between the Iraqi army and ISIL militants. On 29 May, Iraqi troops seized a key bridge between nearby village of Zaghareed and Saqlawiyah in order to facilitate the entry of the security forces from the international highway road into the center of Saqlawiyah.[2]

On 4 June, Iraqi forces captured the town of Saqlawiyah, conducting searches for numerous IEDs left by ISIL. All ISIL militants on board of a raft were killed as they were trying to escape on Euphrates River.[3]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.