Recent from talks
Abu Kamal
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Abu Kamal
Abu Kamal (Arabic: أَبُو كَمَال, romanized: ʾAbū Kamāl), also known as Al-Bukamal (Arabic: ٱلْبُوكَمَال, romanized: al-Būkamāl), is a city in eastern Syria located on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate and near the border with Iraq. It is the administrative centre of the Abu Kamal District and the local subdistrict (Abu Kamal Subdistrict). Just to the south-east is the Al-Qa'im border crossing to the town of Husaybah in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate.
When part of the Ottoman Empire, Abu Kamal was called kışla, pronounced locally as "qashla", which is a Turkish word for "military barracks". This name "Qashla" is still used by some inhabitants of the area, especially by elderly villagers.[citation needed] The name "Al-Bukamal" (Arabic: البوكمال) means "the family of Kamal", Kamal being the tribe that lives there, whereas the name "Abu Kamal" means "the father of Kamal".
In the 17th century, Abu Kamal was the seat of a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire in the Rakka Eyalet. It was a kaza (subdistrict) center within Zor Sanjak until the end of Ottoman rule in 1918. In 1896, the old mud village was relocated a mile upstream because it was in danger of being ruined by flooding. The new village was built from stone and had wide streets. The village and its subdistrict formed the center of the Arab Uqaydat tribe and was largely Sunni Muslim, with the exception of a small Christian community originally from Deir ez-Zor and Mosul. At the beginning of the 20th century, it contained eighty houses, the residence of the kaymakam (kaza governor), a police station, a ferry, and had a population of about 500. The kaza of Abu Kamal in 1890 had a population of 15,000.
Abu Kamal became part of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon in 1921, and the French made it the seat of a large garrison. In 1946 it became part of independent Syria. Abu Kamal's position at the border of Syria and Iraq has made it an important commercial as well as political center.
Abu Kamal is located near to Al-Qa'im, a crossing point for the Iraqi insurgency and the location of Operation Steel Curtain in November 2005. On 27 October 2008, during the Iraq War, four US helicopters carried out a raid on the village of Sukkariyeh in Abu Kamal district. It was the first known raid inside Syria by the US. News reports indicate that at least seven people were killed, four of them children. The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated that "Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression."
During the Syrian Civil War, in late July 2012, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) took over the town, along with its associated border post with Iraq. In early September 2012, France 24 reported that the Hamdan military airport was under attack by FSA.[citation needed] On 16 November 2012, FSA took over the nearby Hamdan military airport, which was once used to transport farm produce, but was converted to a base for helicopters and military tanks. The capture of Hamdan meant that the Syrian Army forces now only held one air base in the province - the main military airport in Deir ez-Zor city.
Abu Kamal was captured by ISIL forces between late-June and early-July 2014 during a three-month offensive across Deir ez-Zor Governorate. On 3 July 2014, SOHR said that city of Mayadin, the second biggest town in Deir Ezzor province, was also "now under IS control, after Al-Nusra Front evacuated its headquarters there, and IS raised its banner". On 3 July 2014, all towns and villages on the route from Abu Kamal to Al-Bab, passing through the Raqqa province, were under Islamic State control.
Owing to its distance from the frontline, the town would see little fighting between its capture by ISIL in 2014 and ISIL's retreat in 2017. During the lull in conflict, the town was the target of a failed opposition attack by the US-backed New Syrian Army in June 2016; the offensive lasted only a day and led to a total reversal of New Syrian Army advances to Abu Kamal.
Hub AI
Abu Kamal AI simulator
(@Abu Kamal_simulator)
Abu Kamal
Abu Kamal (Arabic: أَبُو كَمَال, romanized: ʾAbū Kamāl), also known as Al-Bukamal (Arabic: ٱلْبُوكَمَال, romanized: al-Būkamāl), is a city in eastern Syria located on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate and near the border with Iraq. It is the administrative centre of the Abu Kamal District and the local subdistrict (Abu Kamal Subdistrict). Just to the south-east is the Al-Qa'im border crossing to the town of Husaybah in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate.
When part of the Ottoman Empire, Abu Kamal was called kışla, pronounced locally as "qashla", which is a Turkish word for "military barracks". This name "Qashla" is still used by some inhabitants of the area, especially by elderly villagers.[citation needed] The name "Al-Bukamal" (Arabic: البوكمال) means "the family of Kamal", Kamal being the tribe that lives there, whereas the name "Abu Kamal" means "the father of Kamal".
In the 17th century, Abu Kamal was the seat of a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire in the Rakka Eyalet. It was a kaza (subdistrict) center within Zor Sanjak until the end of Ottoman rule in 1918. In 1896, the old mud village was relocated a mile upstream because it was in danger of being ruined by flooding. The new village was built from stone and had wide streets. The village and its subdistrict formed the center of the Arab Uqaydat tribe and was largely Sunni Muslim, with the exception of a small Christian community originally from Deir ez-Zor and Mosul. At the beginning of the 20th century, it contained eighty houses, the residence of the kaymakam (kaza governor), a police station, a ferry, and had a population of about 500. The kaza of Abu Kamal in 1890 had a population of 15,000.
Abu Kamal became part of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon in 1921, and the French made it the seat of a large garrison. In 1946 it became part of independent Syria. Abu Kamal's position at the border of Syria and Iraq has made it an important commercial as well as political center.
Abu Kamal is located near to Al-Qa'im, a crossing point for the Iraqi insurgency and the location of Operation Steel Curtain in November 2005. On 27 October 2008, during the Iraq War, four US helicopters carried out a raid on the village of Sukkariyeh in Abu Kamal district. It was the first known raid inside Syria by the US. News reports indicate that at least seven people were killed, four of them children. The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem stated that "Killing civilians in international law means a terrorist aggression."
During the Syrian Civil War, in late July 2012, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) took over the town, along with its associated border post with Iraq. In early September 2012, France 24 reported that the Hamdan military airport was under attack by FSA.[citation needed] On 16 November 2012, FSA took over the nearby Hamdan military airport, which was once used to transport farm produce, but was converted to a base for helicopters and military tanks. The capture of Hamdan meant that the Syrian Army forces now only held one air base in the province - the main military airport in Deir ez-Zor city.
Abu Kamal was captured by ISIL forces between late-June and early-July 2014 during a three-month offensive across Deir ez-Zor Governorate. On 3 July 2014, SOHR said that city of Mayadin, the second biggest town in Deir Ezzor province, was also "now under IS control, after Al-Nusra Front evacuated its headquarters there, and IS raised its banner". On 3 July 2014, all towns and villages on the route from Abu Kamal to Al-Bab, passing through the Raqqa province, were under Islamic State control.
Owing to its distance from the frontline, the town would see little fighting between its capture by ISIL in 2014 and ISIL's retreat in 2017. During the lull in conflict, the town was the target of a failed opposition attack by the US-backed New Syrian Army in June 2016; the offensive lasted only a day and led to a total reversal of New Syrian Army advances to Abu Kamal.
Recent media