 After Kufa was captured and al-Mukhtar killed in early 687, Mus'ab appointed al-Muhallab governor of Mosul, the Jazira, Armenia and Adharbayjan.He replaced al-Mukhtar's governor over these areas, Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, who joined the Zubayrids after their victory in Kufa and was transferred to that city.As governor over the region wedged between Zubayrid-controlled Iraq and Umayyad-controlled Syria, al-Muhallab was tasked with protecting the former from an Umayyad invasion.