Haqlaniyah

Al Haqlaniyah or Haqlaniyah (Arabic:الحقلانية) is a city in Iraq on the Euphrates River. It is located in the Al Anbar province, It has 30 thousand inhabitants. Its population and town leadership includes members of the locally influential and sometimes feuding Hyanni and Jughayfi tribes.

North of Haqlaniyah is Bani Dahir, a suburb of the more well known town of Haditha. To the south of Haqlaniyah is the community of Khaffijiyah.

Khaffijiyah is located just south of the Buhayrat al Qadislyah, also known as Lake Qadisiyah or Haditha Dam. It is located on the train line between Bayji and Al Qaim. A moderately sized stone processing facility, which produced retail marble products as well as processed aggregate for industrial uses, is located less than a mile north of the town. The K3 Oil Refinery, owned by Iraq's Northern Oil Company, is on the southern edge of this town. Adjoining the refinery is a small airfield. South of the airfield is a train terminal and switchyard. South of Haqlaniyah there is a modern bridge supporting a rail crossing of the Euphrates. North of Haqlaniyah are two pontoon bridges spanning the ancient waterway.

On the western side of Haqlaniyah there is a golf course that has been out of use since at least the early ninties. West of the golf course stands an operational retail fuel station. This privately owned station is one of two recognizable fuel stations in the area. The other station, located inside Haqlaniyah, is government owned and it's product is government subsidized. As of 2008, one of the two hotels in Haqlaniyah was still operational. The other was destroyed during the war and active discussions regarding it's reconstruction were a part of recovery plans for the area.

Haqlaniyah had a relatively wide industrial base until war and sanctions affected the area. Consequently, it's population base consists of skilled and unskilled laborers from a wide variety of the region's tribes. The combination of jobs, fuel stations, and two operational hotels, and nearby bridges spanning the Euphrates made Haqlaniyah a stopping point for travellers going to or from Syria or during religious pilgramiges.

Haqlaniyah's tribal diversity means no single Shiek holds sway over the town. This set it apart from other nearby communities. Its infrastructure and local culture was geared towards supporting travellers. Consequently, events there responded more slowly to the Shiek-driven "Anbar Awakening" movement than many other parts of the region.

By 2008, an increasingly organized local government and a police force with a respected chief and trained investigators were capitalizing on help from Coalition Forces to reverse the tide of events in the town. The oil refinery was brought back online and most of the towns vacant houses were occupied by returning citizens or Iraqis fleeing more violent parts of the country.

In early 2008, with the help of US Marines, generous private citizens in the U.S., and brave local contractors, the towns soccer field was repaired and put back into use. This hotly contested peice of ground is a very picturesque setting for athletic events. The local government organized a soccer leauge of eight teams who were provided full uniforms and equipment by American donors. The process of reclaiming and repairing the field, equipping and organizing the teams, and the conducting of an opening day ceremony was claimed by some Iraqis to be the sort of catharsis they badly needed.

Haqlaniya is situated as a crossroads between many parts of Iraq and major border crossings into Syria. It retains its heterogenous population and status as a refueling point. Consequently, it will remain vulnerable to the introduction of violent persons or persons advocating violence. Hope for the restoration of its diverse economy remains its primary bulwark against a return to hostilities.