Dora, Baghdad

Dora, Baghdad

Dora (also al-Dura, or ad-Durah, Arabic,الدورة) is a neighborhood in Al Rashid administrative district, southern Baghdad, Iraq. Although this was a majority Assyrian Christian neighborhood, it became controlled by Sunni Muslim Extremists during the Iraq War. They started ethnic cleansing of the neighborhood in 2006-2007, driving out or forcing conversions and confiscating or attacking property. Hundreds of Christian, Shia and Mandeans families have fled since late 2006 due to de facto Islamist Sunni control of the area. It became an al-Qaeda stronghold as affiliated foreign Islamic fighters entered the country after 2004. United States soldiers once called it "the most dangerous place in Iraq" until they were driven out.