Al Zab
{{hatnote|For the Iraqi ship Al Zab, see List of Empire Ships §Empire Ruth.}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Al Zab
|native_name = الزاب
|native_name_lang = ar
|settlement_type = Town
|image_skyline = Hawija.png
|imagesize =
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|image_caption = Location of Al Zab within Hawija District
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|etymology = Named after the Little Zab
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|pushpin_map = Iraq
|pushpin_map_alt =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Iraq
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|coordinates = {{coord|35|16|00|N|43|27|07|E|display=inline,title}}
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Iraq}}
|subdivision_type1 = Region
|subdivision_name1 = {{Flag|Kurdistan Region}}
|subdivision_type2 = Governorate
|subdivision_name2 = Kirkuk Governorate
|subdivision_type3 = District
|subdivision_name3 = Hawija District
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|footnotes = Occupied by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from June 2014 until September 2017, when it was recaptured by Iraqi forces during the Hawija offensive.
}}
Al Zab, Al-Zab, or Az-Zab is a town in Iraq administered as part of the Kirkuk Governorate's Hawija District. Between 2014-2017, it was under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and was recaptured by Iraqi government forces during the Hawija offensive in September, 2017.
Geography
Al Zab is located just northeast of the Little Zab's confluence with the Tigris River in northeastern Iraq.{{cite book |title=Atlas of the World |last=Philip's |year=1994 |publisher=Reed International |isbn=0-540-05831-9 |page=89 }}
History
Al Zab is situated just north of the former location of Shenna, a significant settlement during the Abbasid Caliphate, which was home to a Nestorian bishopric. Due to the rapid demographic growth of the Kurdish population in Iraq, Saddam Hussein incorporated the predominantly Arab district of Hawija, including Al Zab, into the Kirkuk Governorate in 1968 to facilitate easier control by his Baath Party.{{citation |last=O'Leary |first=Brendan |title=How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=idhMxAdrEqkC |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |date=2009 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=idhMxAdrEqkC&pg=PA152 152] & [https://books.google.com/books?id=idhMxAdrEqkC&pg=PA162 162] |isbn=978-0812206081 }}.
In December 2005, during the Iraq War, a resistance bomb detonated near Al{{nbsp}}Zab on its road to Hawija, killing an American soldier.{{citation |title=The Middle East: Abstracts and Index, Pt. 1 |date=2006 |publisher=Northumberland Press |page=134 |contribution=11469: Resistance Bomb West of Kirkuk Leaves US Soldier Reported Dead }}. Another bomb on the same road disabled an armored vehicle and killed one soldier in January 2006.{{citation |title=The Middle East: Abstracts and Index, Pt. 1 |contribution=12183: US Soldier Reported Killed by Resistance Bomb Southwest of Kirkuk }}.
Al Zab was occupied by the Islamic State during their Northern Iraq Offensive on 10 June 2014, the same day as the fall of Mosul. It thereafter became a center for their incursions into the Salah al-Din Governorate's Al-Shirqat District.{{citation |last=Balanian |first=Pierre |contribution-url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Islamic-State-begins-deportation-of-residents-from-al-Zab-38059.html |contribution=Islamic State Begins Deportation of Residents from Al-Zab |title=Asia News |url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/ |date=16 July 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. In July 2016, they forcibly and hurriedly evacuated the town's civilian population, leaving them to shift in the desert while IS fighters constructed tunnels which they filled with oil. For its part, the Islamic State periodically publicizes its charitable works in the town.{{citation |url=http://www.daeshdaily.com/ |title=Daesh Daily |date=4 January 2017 |contribution=Daesh Publishes 2 Photos of Its Zakat Activities in Al-Zab City in Hawija }}.{{citation |url=http://www.daeshdaily.com/ |title=Daesh Daily |date=6 January 2017 |contribution=Daesh Publishes Photos of Its PR Activities in Al-Zab City }}.
References
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