Iskandariya
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Iskandariya (إسكندرية, also given as Iskandariyah, Iskanderiyah, Iskanderiya, Iskanderiyeh or Sikandariyeh) is an ancient town in central Iraq, one of a number of towns in the Near East named after Alexander the Great (Iskander in Arabic). It is largely populated by Shia Muslims, and is located about 25 miles (40 km) from Baghdad.
In ancient times Iskandariya stood half way between Babylon (the place of Alexander's death) and Seleucia (the capital of the Seleucid Empire, very near to modern Baghdad).
During the late 1980s, Iskandariya was the site of a major element of President Saddam Hussein's programme to acquire nuclear weapons. The Al Qaqaa State Establishment, located in the town, is believed to be have been in charge of developing the non-nuclear components for a nuclear weapon. It was subsequently inspected by United Nations weapons inspectors and officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In 1989, the British journalist Farzad Bazoft was arrested there after visiting Iskandariya to check reports that an explosion at the Al Qaqaa plant had killed 700 people. He was subsequently executed by the Iraqi authorities.
The town is also the location of a major factory, the al-Quds General Company for Mechanical Industries. In 2001, the Iraqi government explored the possibility of establishing a joint Iraqi-Belarusian tractor factory on the site.
Iskandariya is one of the last big towns before Baghdad and possesses a major military air base, and as such was a major target for United States forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It fell quickly but was subsequently the scene of a number of lethal guerrilla attacks against the occupying forces and the post-Saddam Iraqi security forces. On June 19, 2003, a soldier from the 804th Medical Brigade was killed when the military ambulance in which he was traveling was hit by a rocket propelled grenade near Iskandariya. Another attack, on November 9, killed a soldier from the 18th Military Police Brigade. Three more US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on January 28, 2004 and another bombing on February 4 killed yet another soldier.
On February 10, a car bomb outside a police station killed at least 45 Iraqis and wounded 150. No coalition forces were killed or injured, but commentators suggested that the attack was both a strike against pro-coalition Iraqi forces and an attempt to create unrest between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
This town is the location of Al Qa'qaa, a major industrial facility and the location of the Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy.