Yusufiyah
Yusufiyah (Arabic: اليوسفية; also transliterated as Yusafiyah, Youssifiyah or Yusifiyah, occasionally prefixed with Al-) is a regional township in the country of Iraq, located in Baghdad Province.
It is about 20 miles (32 km) south of Baghdad.[1] It is approximately 21 km east of Fallujah, 10 kilometers west of the large city of Mahmudiyah, and 15 kilometers northwest of the town of Latifiyah. Yusufiyah is similar in name to the area known as Sadr al Yusufiyah, which is a larger, more urban area near a Russian thermal power plant, approximately 25 kilometers west-northwest of the town of Yusufiyah. A major canal, known as the Yusufiyah canal, runs from Sadr al Yusufiyah in the west, through Yusufiyah, and south to Latifiyah.
History
The Mahmudiyah killings occurred in Yusufiyah.[1]
Architecture
The town of Yusufiyah has around one hundred buildings, with less than ten buildings that are over five stories tall. There are at least three mosques within Yusufiyah itself, and at least one in each nearby village. The vast majority of buildings in Yusufiyah are one or two story brick and cement structures with shops on the first floor and apartments on the second or third floors.
Demographics
The populace within the semi-urban area of Yusufiyah was near totally Sunni Arab until 2007. There lived a number of Sunni tribes (including the Qarghouli clan, near the Jurf Sukr Bridge) located in the smaller villages to the south and west. The smaller villages nearby include Mulla Fayad (approximately 2 km southwest of Yusufiyah) and Rushdi Mullah(approximately 8 km west of Yusufiyah). Agriculture is the main form of employment, with some retail and industrial shops within the town itself. Ever since the end of Iraqi Civil War in September 2007, the town and its rural areas have been heavily resettled by the Shia Arabs. For example, after the expulsion of the ISIS forces from Jurf al-Sakhar in December 2014, none of the old Sunni inhabitants were allowed back in for "security reasons". Instead, the town is now receiving Shia Arab settlers alone. Yusufiyah itself is also largely Shia town now, having lost its former Sunni majority. A bloody car bomb explosion set off in Yusufiyah in November 2014 had targeted this new Shia settlers. ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/23/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-towns-idUSKCN0J70AX20141123)
Iraq War
The city was part of a group of cities of Mahmudiya District including Yusufiyah, Mahmoudiyah, Iskandariyah and Latifiyah that was later referred to as Triangle of Death.
See also
References
- 1 2 Almasy, Steve. "Former soldier at center of murder of Iraqi family dies after suicide attempt." CNN. February 18, 2014. Retrieved on February 19, 2014.