Polish zone in Iraq
Polish zone in Iraq or the South Central / South Center / Central South / Center South zone / sector was created in 2003 when Iraq was divided into four zones. The South Central zone (formerly the Upper South zone) covers the Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Karbala Governorate, Babil Governorate and the Wasit Governorate. The region had a population of about 5 millions spread over 65 632 km². The Najaf Governorate was passed back to American control in 2004, due to reduction in strength of the forces under Polish command; this reduced the zone to about 3 million of population spread over 28 655 km². On January 5, 2006, Polish troops handed over control of the central Babil province to U.S. troops. Major cities in the Polish zone include Diwaniyah, Kut, Hillah, and Karbala and Najaf.
Multinational forces under Polish command (Multinational Division Central-South, MND-CS) includes or indcluded the contingents from the following countries: Republic of Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kingdom of Denmark, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Latvia, Republic of Lithuania, Mongolia, Republic of Poland, Republic of Romania, Republic of El Salvador, Slovak Republic, Kingdom of Spain, Ukraine and the United States of America; the Lithuania, Ukrainian, Spanish and Slovakian ones had already withdrawn. Polish and multinational forces are increasingly involved with training the Iraqi Army.
The strength of the Polish forces have decreased from 2500 (2003) to 900 (2007); the Division numbers about 2,000 troops. Polish casualties number 25. Casualties of the entire division are 65.
The headquarters of MND-CS were moved in 2004 from Camp Babilon to Camp Echo.
Neighbouring formations were the U.S. Marines of Multi-National Forces - West, American divisions covering the Baghdad area, and the British-led Multi-National Division (South-East).
Commanders
| Rotation | Commander | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Andrzej Tyszkiewicz | 17 May 2003 | 11 January 2004 |
| II | Mieczysław Bieniek | 11 January 2004 | 18 July 2004 |
| III | Andrzej Ekiert | 18 July 2004 | 7 February 2005 |
| IV | Waldemar Skrzypczak | 7 February 2005 | 26 July 2005 |
| V | Piotr Czerwiński | 26 July 2005 | 6 February 2006 |
| VI | Edward Gruszka | 6 February 2006 | 18 July 2006 |
| VII | Bronisław Kwiatkowski | 18 July 2006 | 24 January 2007 |
| VIII | Paweł Lamla | 24 January 2007 | 25 July 2007 |
| IX | Tadeusz Buk | 25 July 2007 | 30 January 2008 |
| X | Andrzej Malinowski | 30 January 2008 | 31 October 2008 |
Forces
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