Kūt ( Arabic : ٱلْكُوت , romanized : al-Kūt ), officially Al-Kut , also spelled Kutulamare , Kut al-Imara , or Kut Al Amara is a city in eastern Iraq , on the left bank of the Tigris River , about 160 kilometres (99 miles) south east of Baghdad . As of 2018 the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It is the capital of the province long known as Al Kut, but since the 1960s renamed Wasit .
15-511: The old town of Kut is within a sharp "U" bend of the river, opposite from the point where the Shatt al-Gharraf branches off from the Tigris. This U-shaped bend almost makes it an island but for a narrow connection to the shore. Kut was a regional center of the carpet trade for centuries. The area around Kut is a fertile cereal grain growing region. The Baghdad Nuclear Research Facility , looted following
30-509: A siege that lasted 147 days. The British cavalry under Colonel Gerard Leachman succeeded in breaking out, but Townshend and the bulk of the force remained besieged. Many attempts were made to relieve Townshend's forces, but all were defeated. Some 23,000 British and Indian soldiers died in the attempts to retake Kut, probably the worst loss of life for the British away from the European theater. Near
45-507: The 2003 US invasion of Iraq , is located near Kut. Kut has a hot desert climate ( BWh ) in the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system . Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Kut is 23.4 °C (74.1 °F). About 138 mm (5.43 in) of precipitation falls annually. The medieval city of Madharaya was at the site of modern Kut. It lay at the point where
60-793: The Battle of Hanna in January 1916 and the Battle of Dujaila in March. One of the reasons the British had decided to defend Kut was that the canal was considered as a possible route for the Turks or the Anglo-Indian Force to transport troops between the Tigris and Euphrates and vice versa. By 20 May 1916 the British occupied the right (south) bank of the Tigris as far west as the Gharraf, clearing it of Turkish forces, but had not yet recaptured Kut. They were able to cross to
75-701: The Hai river , is an ancient canal in Iraq that connects the Tigris at Kut al Amara with the Euphrates east of Nasiriyah . As an Ottoman (Turkish) position lay along the canal, it was one of the objectives of intense military action during the First World War , especially the siege of Kut (December 1915 to April 1916). Between 1934 and 1939, the Kut Barrage was constructed in
90-611: The Mesopotamian Campaign . They reached Kut on September 26, where after three days of fighting they drove the Ottoman forces from the town. After a halt of nearly nine months, Townshend then headed up river to Ctesiphon . Following a battle there, the British forces withdrew back to Kut. On December 7, 1915, the Turks , under their commander, Colonel Nurettin Pasha, arrived at Kut and began
105-732: The Nahrawan Canal flowed out into the Tigris . Madharaya has been identified as the hometown of the Sasanian -era Zoroastrian religious leader Mazdak . By the early 1200s, however, Yaqut al-Hamawi wrote that Madharaya was in ruins. Modern Kut owes much of its prosperity to the advent of steamboat transportation on the Tigris in the 1800s. Kut was the scene of a fierce battle during World War I . The British Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, led by Major General Charles Townshend , marched north from Basra in September 1915 in what became known as
120-692: The FOB was re-designated as a COB. COB Delta was closed on October 24, 2011 and officially turned over to the IAF in a handover ceremony that afternoon in the main flight line hangar/terminal. Later that evening, approximately 2,200, the last Force Pro civilians flew out by helicopter. [REDACTED] Media related to Al Kut at Wikimedia Commons Al-Gharraf River 32°25′30″N 45°51′00″E / 32.425°N 45.85°E / 32.425; 45.85 The Gharraf Canal , Shaṭṭ al-Ḥayy ( Arabic : شط الحي), also known as Shaṭṭ al-Gharrāf (Arabic: شط الغرّاف) or
135-553: The Tigris to control the water level of the river and to provide a constant inflow of water to the Shatt al-Hayy. The Turks surrounded and besieged General Charles Townshend 's British Empire forces which occupied Kut. The Gharraf River was picked by the Ottoman Army as an advantage point as part of that siege. During the siege the Ottomans repelled relief attempts by Anglo-Indian forces in
150-505: The city in the 1930s to provide irrigation water for the surrounding area. The barrage supports a road and includes a lock for boats passing up and down the Tigris. Its purpose is to maintain a sufficiently high water level in the Tigris to provide water for the Gharraf irrigation canal. In 1952, 26,440 hectares (65,300 acres) were irrigated from water provided by the Gharraf Canal. Of this newly reclaimed land, 14,080 hectares (34,800 acres)
165-412: The end of the siege, T. E. Lawrence and Aubrey Herbert of British Intelligence unsuccessfully tried to bribe Khalil Pasha to allow the troops to escape. Townshend, with some 8,000 surviving soldiers, finally surrendered Kut on April 29, 1916. The captured soldiers were divided, where the officers were sent to separate facilities, and many of the enlisted soldiers were impressed into hard labour until
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#1732855957626180-786: The other side on 13 December 1916. The Turks evacuated Kut on 24 February 1917 and retreated to Baghdad . This Iraq geographical location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Forward operating base A forward operating base ( FOB ) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base , that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase , hospital , machine shop , and other logistical facilities. The base may be used for an extended period of time. FOBs are traditionally supported by main operating bases that are required to provide backup support to them. A FOB also improves reaction time to local areas as opposed to having all troops on
195-640: The right bank of the Tigris southwest from Kut. Designated as a Forward operating base (FOB) in the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom , Delta was centered on a former Iraqi Air Force base, Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base . In 2005 Delta was selected to become an "enduring" FOB, remaining open after other FOBs had closed. During the Operation Iraqi Freedom, FOB Delta was manned by Polish, Kazakhstan, El Salvadorian, Georgian, Lithuanian, British, and US Multi-National Forces . Sometime after 2009
210-568: The surrender of the Ottoman Empire; more than half of them died. The British went back on the offensive in December 1916 with a larger and better-supplied force under General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude and with steep casualties retook Kut on February 23, 1917. Kut suffered heavy damage during the First World War, and was almost entirely rebuilt afterward. The Kut Barrage was constructed in
225-630: Was distributed to small farmers as part of a social land reform program. These farmers received 10 hectares (25 acres) per family and were required to live on the land they farmed. In 2005, repairs and maintenance works were carried out at the Kut Barrage and the Gharraf Head Regulator for a total cost of US$ 3 million. In the early 21st century, the Contingency Operating Base (COB) Delta was an American military installation located on
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