Read in
BAGHDAD — On Feb. 22, the head of the central Euphrates operations command, Qais Khalaf, said that work will continue for digging a security trench around the administrative borders of Najaf province, which Shiite Muslims consider sacred since the shrine of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (599-661), the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Shiite imam and the fourth caliph in Islam, is located there.
Najaf is roughly 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. In addition to being a sacred place for Shiites, who make up the majority of the Iraqi population, many senior Shiite clerics reside in Najaf, most notably Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
