Safwan ( ar, صفوان) is a town in southeast

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 ...

on the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. It was the site of the Safwan Air Base.

Etymology

The city of Safwan is attributed to its founder Safwan bin Assal Al Muradi Al Yamani, a companion of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

who participated in the conquest of Iraq in the middle ages. He settled in

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...

, northeast of

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

at first but then moved to Safwan, south of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

along with his tribe who later named the city in his name. Safwan is also part of the Az Zubayr district south of

and has a population of 70,000 people.

History

During Muhammad's era

Muhammad ordered a Military expedition in Safwan. The expedition was ordered by

after he received intelligence that

Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri was a companion of Muhammad but used to be an enemy. During the Invasion of Safwan he rustled some grazing cattle belonging to the Muslim community. Muhammad sent seventy Muslims after him, who chased him to Safwan, at the ...

rustled some grazing cattle belonging to Muslims. It occurred directly after the

Invasion of Waddan The Patrol of al-Abwa or Waddan occurred on the 12th of Rajab in the second Hijri year or in Safar of the same year. Muhammad took a force of 70 men and when he reached Waddan, the Quraysh were not present. However, the Banu Damrah met with Muhamm ...

in the year 2 AH of the Islamic calendar. The expedition was ordered by

after he received intelligence that

rustled some grazing cattle belonging to Muslims. Therefore, Muhammad directed about 70 Muslims, who chased him to Safwan, at the outskirts of

Badr Badr (Arabic: بدر) as a given name below is an Arabic masculine and feminine name given to the "full moon on its fourteenth night" or the ecclesiastical full moon. Badr may refer to: .and it is also one of the oldest and rarest names in the Arabi ...

. But Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri managed to escape.Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, English translation availabl
here
/ref>

Persian Gulf War

Safwan is located in the south of Iraq at Iraqi Kuwaiti border, along the infamous ''

Highway of Death The Highway of Death ( ''ṭarīq al-mawt'') is a six-lane highway between Kuwait and Iraq, officially known as Highway 80. It runs from Kuwait City to the border town of Safwan in Iraq and then on to the Iraqi city of Basra. The road was used ...

'' from the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The cease-fire negotiations between General

Norman Schwarzkopf Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (; August 22, 1934 – December 27, 2012) was a United States Army general. While serving as the commander of United States Central Command, he led all coalition forces in the Gulf War. Born in Trenton, Ne ...

and the Iraqi delegation led by Lieutenant General Sultan Hashim Ahmed, Sultan Hashim Ahmad took place at Safwan airfield. Schwarzkopf's demand to hold the formal cease-fire negotiations in Iraqi territory led to the encounter between the 1st squadron, 4th Cavalry regiment (Quarterhorse) from Ft. Riley, Ks. of the 1st Infantry Division (United States), U.S. 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) and the Iraqi Republican Guard, known in military circles as Gulf war#End of active hostilities, The Ultimatum. This was detailed in the book Third Graders At War, as well as the book Road to Safwan.

External links

References