Hajin
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Hajin ( ar, هَجِين, Hajīn, also spelled Hajeen) is a small city in eastern
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 ...
, administratively part of the
Deir ez-Zor Governorate Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة دير الزور / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering Iraq. It has an area of 33,060 km2 ( ...
, located along the
Euphrates River 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'') ...
, south of
Deir ez-Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_title = Religions , population_blank2 = ...
. Nearby localities include al-Abbas to the west, al-Ramadi to the south and Gharanij to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Hajin had a population of 37,935 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a ''
nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
'' ("subdistrict") of the
Abu Kamal District Abu Kamal District ( ar-at, منطقة البوكمال, manṭiqat Albūkamāl) is a district of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in northeastern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Abu Kamal. At the 2004 census, the district had a popula ...
. The Hajin subdistrict consists of four towns which had a collective population of 97,970 in 2004.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Deir az-Zawr Governorate.
The
al-Shaitat Al-Shaitat ( ar, الشُّعَيْطَاتُ, aš-Šuʿayṭāt), in Standard Arabic al-Shuʿaytāt, is a Sunni Arab clan which lives in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria. Its membership numbers between 70,000 and 90,000 and it is l ...
tribe is the largest tribe in the area. The town was captured by the
Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...
on 14 December 2018 in the Battle of Hajin, after a week and a half of heavy clashes and intense
airstrikes An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offici ...
by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
-led
Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) is a multinational military formation established by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with the stated aim to "d ...
international coalition, and has since been part of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.


History

In 1940 the anthropologist Henry Field identified Hajin as the location of the Al Bu Hardan tribal confederation, under a chief named Manawakh al Khalil. Field classified them as charid owners. A charid is described by Field as being a device used to pull water up steep banks using livestock so that it can be used for irrigation.


Syrian civil war

The city came under the occupation of 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 ...
(ISIL) in 2014 during the Syrian civil war. In late November 2017, Hajin became ISIL's ''de facto'' capital city after they lost their
Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. T ...
,
Mayadin Mayadin ( ar, ٱلْمِيَادِين/ALA-LC: ''al-Miyādīn'') is a town in eastern Syria. It is the capital of the Mayadin District, part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. Mayadin is about 44 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. The Euphrates Riv ...
, Al-Qa'im, and
Abu Kamal Abu Kamal ( ar, أَبُو كَمَال, ʾAbū Kamāl) or Al-Bukamal ( ar, ٱلْبُوكَمَال, al-Būkamāl) is a city on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. It is the administrat ...
strongholds at the hands of the Syrian government, Iraq, and Kurdish-led forces respectively. On December 28, 2017 the
Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...
reached the city of Hajin and began a campaign to remove ISIL. This action was a part of the SDF's Operation Cizire Storm. In 2018, Iraqi intelligence and some experts believed that ISIL leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...
was hiding in Hajin, due to the concentration of ISIL forces and leadership in the city, even though there has not yet been any direct evidence that al-Baghdadi himself was present there. In March 2018, the SDF paused the campaign against Hajin in order to defend Afrin from the invading Turkish Army, but the operation resumed by 24 April 2018. On June 22, 2018, coalition forces led by the U.S. dropped leaflets on Hajin and in the Abu Khater area. On September 10, 2018, the SDF launched an
offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
to take Hajin and its surrounding area. One news report estimated that around 4,000 ISIL fighters were defending the city, though other reports put the number of ISIL fighters between 1,500 and 2,500. On August 22, 2018 the Islamic State attempted a counterattack to break the siege of Hajin but was repelled. On September 11, 2018 the SDF advanced on Hajin with US-coalition support. On October 31, 2018 the SDF suspended its operation in Deir ez-Zor, including their efforts against ISIL in Hajin, as a response to Turkish attacks against SDF-held areas in northern Syria. On December 4, 2018, after resuming their offensive against Hajin the SDF entered the town and started their battle against ISIL for control of the city. On 14 December 2018, the SDF spokeswoman Lilwa al-Abdallah said that the military operations are ongoing to fully end ISIL and soon, we will celebrate the full liberation of Hajin. It said small pockets of ISIL resistance will be suppressed in the next two days. Hajin was captured in December 2018.


References

{{Deir ez-Zor Governorate, abu Populated places in Abu Kamal District Towns in Syria