Qayyarah or Qayara ( ar, القيارة) is an

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i town located in southern

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate ( ar, محافظة نينوى, syr, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ, Hoparkiya d’Ninwe, ckb, پارێزگای نەینەوا, Parêzgeha Neynewa), also known as Ninawa Governorate, is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an ...

on the west bank of the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost 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, and empties into the ...

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

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

. It is located in the

Mosul District , settlement_type = District , image_skyline = File:Ninevehdistricts.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Mosul District (tan) in Nineveh Governorate , pushpin_map ...

, and it is the seat of Qayyarah subdistrict. 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 ( ar, قاعدة القيارة الجوية) 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 ...

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

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

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 ( ar, حيدر جواد كاظم العبادي; 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 fro ...

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. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

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 ( ar, جبور, 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. A ...

tribe from Qayyarah and surrounding villages formed the

Popular Mobilization Forces The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) ( ar, الحشد الشعبي ''al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī''), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, transli ...

' 39th Regiment (nicknamed "Commandos of al-Jubur" or "Lions of the Tigris") to fight against ISIL. This unit subsequently took part in the

Battle of Mosul (2016–2017) The Battle of Mosul ( ar, معركة الموصل, ''Ma'rakat al-Mawṣil''; ckb, شەڕی مووسڵ, ''Şeriy Mûsil'') was a major military campaign launched by the Iraqi Government forces with allied militias, the Kurdistan Regional Gove ...

. The town's name derives from the Arabic 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 bit ...

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

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

passed through Qayyarah and described how its bitumen was exported to other towns;

Shihab al-Din al-'Umari Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Fadlallah al-Umari ( ar, شهاب الدين أبو العبّاس أحمد بن فضل الله العمري, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Faḍlallāh al-ʿUmarī), commonly known as Ibn Fadlal ...

also noted that Qayyarah's bitumen springs produced a large revenue for the sultans.

Notable people

* Farhan Jubouri, Iraqi intelligence officer *

Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri is an Iraqi Major General and governor. Al-Jubouri commanded Iraqi Army forces attempting to oust the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from the Nineveh Governorate during the Battle of Mosul (2016–2 ...

, Iraqi army officer

References

External links

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