Lake Habbaniyah

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Lake Habbaniyah
Basin countries	Iraq
Surface area	140 km²

Lake Habbaniyah (Arabic: بحيرة الحبانية‎ Buhayrat al-Habbaniyah) is a shallow natural lake in al-Anbar, Iraq, west of Baghdad. It has a surface area 140 km². Traditionally the lake has been used to hold flood water from the River Euphrates, and in 1956 a barrage was constructed at Ramadi for this purpose. The lake was also used for recreational purposes.

In the late 1930s and 1940s Lake Habbaniyah was used by Imperial Airways as a refueling point and hotel for flying boats flying from the United Kingdom to India. Nearby on the banks of the Euphrates had already been established the Royal Air Force airbase of RAF Dhibban, later renamed RAF Habbaniya.

It was the scene of action during the Rashid Ali rebellion Anglo-Iraqi War when the RAF trainee aircrew and troops stationed there effectively saw off the besieging Iraqi troops and subsequent German aerial attacks.

Habbaniya is now also the site of a major United States military base known as Al Taqqadum. This military base is across the flood relief canal, up on the plateau where the RAF built an additional airfield in 1953. Habbaniya itself remains a military base and is responsible for the training of the new Sunni 5000 which is a drive by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense to incorporate Sunni Iraqis into the military to make it more representative. The base had its first graduation of recruits in May 2006.

[edit] See also

• RAF Habbaniya
• 123 Signals Unit RAF