wikishia:Featured articles/2025/06
The 1991 uprising in Iraq or al-Intifada al-Sha'baniyya refers to the uprising of the people of Iraq against the government of Saddam Hussein which began in Sha'ban 1411/March 1991. The uprisings began from Basra and protesters took over fourteen of eighteen governorates of Iraq in fifteen days.
In reaction to them, the Ba'ath party killed tens of thousands of people and about two million people were displaced. Some of the clergies were arrested or executed and some others had to leave Iraq. Also, in the attacks of the Ba'ath party, the shrines of Imam Ali (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a) were damaged and the government of Iraq destructed many seminaries, mosques, and husayniyyas.
The uprising began in the month of Sha'ban, 1411/March, 1991 from Basra, when an Iraqi soldier who had returned from the war with Kuwait shot at a picture of Saddam Hussein with a tank shell. After this event, people attacked the buildings of the Ba'ath party and the prison of the city and took their control. After a while, protesters took the control of Basra and by broadcasting the news of its conquest, some other governorates of Iraq were conquered by people.
Destruction of economic and welfare infrastructures of Iraq after the war with Kuwait, remaining damages after the war with Iran and people's dissent toward the Ba'ath regime are considered among the reasons for the uprising of the people of Iraq against Saddam. Following the attack of Iraq against Kuwait, allied forces led by the US attacked Iraq and destroyed much of economic and welfare infrastructures of Iraq.
In Intifada Sha'baniyya, fourteen of eighteen governorates of Iraq were overtaken by people. Protesters took over the control of the governorates Diyala, Wasit, Maysan, Basra, Dhi Qar, Muthanna, Qadisiyyah, Babil, Karbala, Najaf, Dohuk, Arbil, Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah and only the central governorates of Saladin, Baghdad, Nineveh, and Anbar were left in the control of the government. Therefore, Intifada Sha'baniyya is considered the greatest internal challenge of Iraq during the time of Saddam Hussein.......
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