Al Ubaidi (or Al Obaidi) is a town in the

Al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...

of Iraq. It is an Iraqi city situated along the south side of

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

River near the

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n border. It is a subdistrict of Al Qa'im and contains both New Ubaydi and Old Ubaydi as well as a number of smaller villages that stretch down the Euphrates to the east. During the Iraq War, the city was patrolled by United States Marines, and was the location of a forward operating base, a US military base, as well as several battle positions. Following

Operation Steel Curtain Operation Steel Curtain (Arabic: الحجاب الفولاذي Al Hejab Elfulathi) was a military operation executed by coalition forces in early November 2005 to reduce the flow of foreign insurgents crossing the border and joining the Iraqi ...

, in which US Marines and

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...

units swept the city of insurgents, the streets were secured by a combination of Iraqi Army and Marine forces. Old Ubaydi is the stronghold of the Al-Bu Mahal tribe, who was the first tribe in the region to openly cooperate with coalition forces and fight the insurgency. New Ubaydi is a modern style city, complete with city planning. It was built to support the workers of the Al Qaim Phosphate plant, which is located to the south west of Ubaydi. The villages to the east that fall under Ubaydi's jurisdiction are made of a mix of tribes including Mahal, Rawi, and Salmani. These villages are mostly made of farmers and fishermen. Ubaydi has a functioning city council and mayor and a fully operational police force. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured the city in 2014. The

later recaptured the city in November 2017.

References

* http://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2017/23-november-shaikhan-sheikha-malha-sabeeha-ali-almani-arab Populated places in Al Anbar Governorate {{Iraq-geo-stub