updated Fri. November 17, 2023
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New Statesman
March 21, 2018
“We hope that the conditions here will be just like they were before so that they would think about returning to Habbaniya,” he says. “Just like when the birds leave their area, the area becomes empty, so they are like the birds who have left, making this place empty… if they come, this place would come toÃâà...
The Arab Weekly
January 29, 2018
Eucalyptus trees possess a sap that acts as a natural mosquito repellent. Because of the trees, Habbaniya never had a problem with malaria — the building of the base was the beginning of a town-sized oasis carved out of nothing in the middle of the desert. The base became a favourite posting for the RAFÃâà...
BBC News
September 5, 2017
On the southern shore of Lake Habbaniya, thousands of people displaced during the war against Islamic State are living in a fly-blown Saddam-era tourist village. As the battle against IS has moved from city to city – causing some to flee their homes, others to return - so the population of this and otherÃâà...
Iraqi News
July 19, 2017
Khamis al-Mohammadi, a tribal chief at Mahamda region, told the website that honey badgers appeared early 2006 when U.S. forces stationed at the Habbaniya base and Hadana airport, east of the city of Ramadi. “We never knew it existed until U.S. forces entered,” he said. “That animal was entirelyÃâà...
Hemel Gazette
July 18, 2017
“When we were in Habbaniya the three of us worked a watch system so only saw each other very briefly but my lasting memory of Sid was when we were on a civilian radio course for 6 months in the town of Taunton. Because we weren't in uniform, we could traipse around the town, going out to the pubsÃâà...
Newsweek
February 24, 2016
Not long ago, Lake Habbaniya was a place for weddings and honeymoons, beach parties and family picnics. Just a few hours' drive west of Baghdad, the lake became a top vacation spot after a luxury resort opened there in 1979, with tennis courts, fairground rides and lush gardens. For several years afterÃâà...
The Guardian
October 9, 2015
Syria's civil war has raged for nearly five years, underpinned by a complex pattern of alliances and enmities. The Assad regime and its local opponents are backed to differing degrees and in different configurations by military powers from near and far. Wed 2 Dec 2015 17.47 EST First published on Fri 9 OctÃâà...
Aljazeera.com (blog)
July 15, 2015
Habbaniya Tourism Village, Iraq – Down a bone-rattling gravel road, the sparkling blue waters of Habbaniya Lake rise up from the desert like a mirage. A little closer and you can see the canvas tents on the beach that fronted one of Iraq's most popular holiday resorts. Things here have gone terribly wrongÃâà...
CNN
June 9, 2015
Habbaniyah, Iraq (CNN) Iraq's history is writ large among the ruins of Habbaniyah military base: wrecked aircraft, crumbling buildings and much-used military hardware all telling a part of the country's troubled tale. A relic of the British Empire, Habbaniyah fell into the hands of Saddam Hussein when heÃâà...
New York Times
August 24, 2009
LAKE HABBANIYA, Iraq — A few hours outside Baghdad in the middle of Iraq's vast western desert is a sight that could understandably be mistaken for a mirage: a long, sandy beach filled with thousands of people swimming and dancing barefoot under the hot sun without apparent care. A disc jockeyÃâà...
