X-Nico

9 unusual facts about Najaf


11th Marine Expeditionary Unit

During August 2004, the MEU, led an assault consisting of 1st Battalion, 4th Marines; 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division; and 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, against the Islamist Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf.

On 31 July 2004 the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, under the Polish-led Multinational Division Central-South (MND-CS), assumed operational control of the Iraqi provinces of An Najaf and Al Qadisiyah from Task Force Dragon, composed of elements of the 1st Infantry Division.

Al-Damun

Despite Islamic tradition claiming the tomb to be in Al Kifl near Najaf or Kifl Hares near Nablus, Nasir Khusraw discovered it to be al-Damun when he visited the region in 1047.

Battle of Ullais

According to modern geography the battlefield lies 25 miles south-east of the Iraqi city of Najaf, and about 4 miles south-west of modern Ash Sinafiyah.

Battle of Walaja

The centre of the battlefield was about two miles southeast of present, Ain-ul-Muhari, 35 miles southeast of present, Najaf, and six miles southeast of present Ash Sinafiyah.

Emily Perez

She was killed when a makeshift bomb exploded near her Humvee during combat operations in Al Kifl, near Najaf.

Faisal II of Iraq

Faisal's political situation deteriorated in 1956, with uprisings in the cities of Najaf and Hayy.

Media of Iraq

For example, in Najaf, with a population of 300,000, over 30 newspapers were being published and distributed.

Religion in Iraq

Similarly, Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Alī ibn Abī Tālib (also known as "Imām Alī"), whom the Shia consider to be the righteous caliph and first imām.


2004 Kufa shelling

Weeks before the attack happened there had been heavy fighting between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr around Kufa, and Najaf.

Abdul Latif Berry

At a very young age Sheikh Berry moved to his family's original village of Tebnine, and in 1961 at age 13 he moved back to Najaf to conduct his Islamic studies.

Abu Hatim Tayyib Ziyauddin

Throughout 2000, he visited Karbala, Shaam, Najaf, Kufa, Bait ul-Muqaddas, Cairo, and Yemen in a comprehensive tour, making him the first Mansoor ul-Yamane and Zaair il-Mashhadain il-'Azeemain to do so.

Al-Amiri

Saheb al-Amiri (died 2006), Muqtada al-Sadr's top aide, killed in a raid by U.S. troops in the city of Najaf

Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim

1970 – January 29, 2007), also known as al-Ali bin Ali bin Abi Talib (Arabic: العلي بن علي بن أبي طالب), claimed to be from Hilla, Iraq, was the leader of an armed extremist Shiite Islam cult named Jund al-Samaa ("Soldiers of Heaven" in Arabic, a well-armed Shia cult regarding the religious leadership in Najaf as illegitimate) based in Iraq.

Education in Bahrain

Families of a predominately religious background often sent their children to religious institutions in the region, to madrasas in Mecca and Al-Hasa in mainland Arabia for Sunni students and to Najaf and Karbala for Shia students.

Ibn al-Tiqtaqa

‘Ibn al-Tiqtaqā’, or the son of a chatterbox, was an onomatopoeic nickname for the Iraqi historian Jalāl-ad-Dīn Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Tāji’d-Dīn Abi’l-Hasan ’Ali, the spokesman of the Shi'a community in the Shi’ī holy cities—Hillah, Najaf, and Karbala; in an Iraq that was to remain the stronghold of Shi'ism, until the forcible conversion of Iran by Shah Ismail I Safavi.

Iranians in Iraq

Knowledge of Persian is widespread in cities such as Karbalā', Najaf, and parts of Baghdād and Baṣrah.

Jane Arraf

During the war in Iraq she covered live the battles for Fallujah, Samarra and Tel Afar and was the only television correspondent embedded with U.S. forces fighting the Mehdi Army in Najaf in 2004.

Justin LeHew

He distinguished himself in combat once again during the battle of Najaf from 5 to 28 August 2004 earning the Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device for his heroic actions against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr.

Mass graves in Iraq

The 1991 massacre of Iraqi Shia Muslims after the Shia uprising at the end of the Gulf war, in which tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in regions such as Basra, Karbala, Najaf, Nasiriya, Amara and Al-Hillah were killed.

Musa al-Musawi

Musa al-Musawi (born 1930 in Najaf) was renowned for writing polemical revisionist texts on Shia Islam.

Operation Southern Watch

On 13 January, more than 100 American, British and French aircraft attacked Iraqi missile sites near Nasiriyah, Samawah, Najaf and Al-Amarah.

Provincial Iraqi Control

As of October 2008, thirteen provinces had successfully completed transition to provincial Iraqi control: al Muthanna, Dhi Qar, Najaf, Maysan, Dahuk, Arbil, Sulaymaniyah, Karbala, Basra, Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Anbar, Babil and Wasit.

Salih Sadir

The talented player from the southern city of Najaf, is one of Iraq's most gifted individuals, who excelled playing for the Olympic team in the qualifying rounds – his performances compensated for the absence of Nashat Akram in Iraq's midfield.

Under coach Hemoud, Al-Najaf became one of Iraq's most entertaining teams with Saleh Sadeer – and captain Falah Hassan, Abbas Wahoudi, Saeed Muhsin, Ali Hashim and Qasim Jalout.

Sistan and Baluchestan Province

Ayatollah Sistani is also from Sistān; though he currently resides in Najaf, Iraq .

The Gifted Students' School-Iraq

The school's original location was in Hayy Al-Jami'a, Baghdad, but it was relocated with Al-Mansor High School in Al-Mansor, Baghdad after being targeted by Al-Qaeda.Now the school has three other campuses in Iraq in An-Najaf, Al-Basrah, and Mosul.


see also