SUMMARY

The conflict between the Dereiat and the al-Shahman tribes started following a dispute over land. Two men, one from each tribe, disagreed on the right to cultivate a particular piece of land and the disagreement escalated into murder. The al-Shahman man was killed and dumped at the al-Shahman chieftain with an insulting note. This led the dispute to escalate to an inter-tribal conflict rather than inter-personal.

The tribes in the southern marshlands of Iraq had, in the early 1990s, been armed by the government in order to fight off a possible US invasion in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. However, instead of protecting the Iraqi regime the weapons were instead used in the succeeding violence. The heavy weaponry that both clans possessed - mortars, rockets, and grenades may be one reason for the high number of fatalities in the fighting. Following a battle outside the town of al-Hayy the conflict was driven into the marshlands where more than two hundred people were killed.

The non-state conflict between the Dereiat and the al-Shahman tribes is first included in UCDP data in 1992. In October of that year violent clashes flared up in southeast Iraq, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.