[2] In the 1990s, Jurf al-Sakhar housed a large military complex, including the Al Hakum facility, at one time Iraq's most sophisticated and largest biological weapons production factory.

Nine medals for valor were awarded to the paratroopers of Apache Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (Geronimo), for their actions in and around the town.

[4][5][6] Recapture of the town was additionally motived by the need to secure it prior to the Ashura religious observance, and the close proximity of a Shia shrine at Karbala.

[7] On October 29, 2014, the Babil Government decided to lock out all of the former inhabitants of Jurf al-Sakhar for eight months in order to remove many improvised explosive devices and clear the houses of bombs that had been placed by ISIS.

Many of the Iraqi forces who had taken part in the recapture from ISIS were also participants in Shia Muslim rituals to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a few days later.