Country Iraq City Baghdad | Governorate Baghdad Governorate City district Al Rashid | |
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Dora (also al-Dura, or ad-Durah, Arabic,الدورة) is a neighborhood in Al Rashid administrative district, southern Baghdad, Iraq. Although this was a majority Assyrian Christian neighborhood, it became controlled by Sunni Muslim Extremists during the Iraq War. They started ethnic cleansing of the neighborhood in 2006–2007, driving out or forcing conversions and confiscating or attacking property. Hundreds of Christian, Shia and Mandeans families have fled since late 2006 due to de facto Islamist Sunni control of the area. It became an al-Qaeda stronghold as affiliated foreign Islamic fighters entered the country after 2004. United States soldiers once called it "the most dangerous place in Iraq" until they were driven out.
Contents
Map of Dora, Baghdad, Iraq
History
The area was largely uninhabited until the 1950s when Assyrians from Habbaniya started settling down in Baghdad. Most houses and churches were built during the 1960s and 1970s while the booming neighbourhood attracted more middle-class families. Prior to the Iraq War the area was home to the largest concentration of Assyrian Christians and Mandeans as well as mixed Sunni and Shi'ite families.
Iraq War
In the early morning of March 19, 2003, U.S. forces initiated the invasion of Iraq by attacking a "buried command post" believed to be occupied by Saddam Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay. In fact, the target did not exist; the strike on a disused above-ground regime leadership compound killed one civilian and injured fourteen others, including one child.
In April 2004 the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division operating as motorized infantry was assigned the task of operations in the al-Dora neighborhood. It encountered al-Qaida-affiliated Muslims and fought a pitched battle immediately upon taking over control of this sector from 2-504 PIR, 82nd Airborne Division and 1-94 FA, DIVARTY, 1st Armored Division. The unit sustained four KIA during its ensuing counter insurgency operations there, but were able to stop al-Qaida control over the region until its departure in March 2005. In 2009 the Battalion was awarded the U.S. Army's Valorous Unit award for its actions in al-Dora.
By May 2007, Dora was receiving mainstream media attention as a hornet's nest of sectarian violence, particularly for Islamic anti-Christian violence. Christians were seen as 'soft targets' who would either pay or leave Dora rather than retaliate. By 2010 Dora had become a predominantly Sunni neighbourhood with Assyrians being reduced to small enclaves. Further attacks in late 2010 forced even more families to flee to more safe areas in- and outside Iraq.