 Haifa was captured from the Ottomans in September 1918 by Indian horsemen of the British Army after overrunning Ottoman positions armed with <unk> and swords . On 22 September , British troops were heading to Nazareth when a reconnaissance report was received indicating that the Turks were leaving Haifa . The British made preparations to enter the city and came under fire in the Balad al @-@ Sheikh district ( today Nesher ) . After the British regrouped , an elite unit of Indian horsemen were sent to attack the Turkish positions on the flanks and overrun their artillery guns on Mount Carmel . 
