2,000 US troops from the 1st Cavalry Division partnered with the Iraqi Army, police, and the Border Enforcement Brigade in the Province to defeat Shia extremism and interdict illicit arms smuggling across the Iranian border. Working closely with British investigators and Iraqi police, US troops also successfully detained 11 out of 17 individuals who were wanted for the murder of British soldiers in Majr Al Khabir back in 2003. All 11 suspects faced murder charges in a Baghdad court. Provincial elections in January 2009 saw a dramatic shift in the balance of power in Amarah and Maysan Province in general. In an election widely recognized as both credible and legitimate, Maysan voters broke the six-year-long grip that Sadrist parties had on power in the Provincial Council resulting in an even split between Sadrist and Islamic Dawa Party affiliates in the council. In May 2009, the PC formally appointed a Dawa Party member to the governorship to replace the radical Sadrist leadership that had held power for years in the Province. Climate Amarah experiences a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with extremely hot and dry summers and cool, wetter winters. On July 31, 2020, a temperature of 53.0 ºC (127.4 °F) was recorded. See also Operation Before the Dawn Battle of Amarah Battle of Majar al-Kabir Bibliography Inside The Resistance: The Iraqi Insurgency and the Future of the Middle East, Zaki Chehab, Nation Books, 2005 References External links Marsh - GlobalSecurity.org Amarah - GlobalSecurity.org Iraq: Sorting Out Events in Amarah - Jeff Severns Guntzel - Google Groups Populated places in Maysan Province Populated places established in the 1860s Populated places on the Tigris River District capitals of Iraq Cities in Iraq 1860 establishments in the Ottoman Empire