Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai Mosque: what Wikipedia removed
A mosque in Fallujah, Iraq that became a battle site during the Iraq War. From 2005 through October 6 2023 the opening stated the mosque “came to worldwide attention when militants holed up inside it directed small-arms fire and a rocket at US Marines.” The word survives once in the article today but is gone from the opening, which now only calls Fallujah “the city of 120 mosques” without mentioning the battle. A reader today learns Fallujah once had many mosques, and not that militants used this specific mosque to fire on US Marines.
The word “militant” appeared 1 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2005. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 1. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.
The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot
Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”| word | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 6 October 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| militant | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| genocide | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.
What was taken out
Section titled “What was taken out”- The account of militants holding the mosque and firing on US Marines is gone from the opening.
- The statement that a US brigadier general acknowledged the mosque’s status as a religious building is gone from the opening.
How it opened then, and now
Section titled “How it opened then, and now”2005 (revision 16414351):
The Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque came to worldwide attention when militants holed up inside it directed small-arms fire and a rocket at US Marines . US forces returned fire, according to a field-grade Marine officer. A brigadier general acknowledged that as a religious building, the mosque would ordinarily have protection under the Geneva Convention , but added that the attacks from inside the building caused it to lose its status. It was initially claimed that some 40 rebels had been killed in the strike, but it was later stated that no bodies were actually found at the scene.
2025 (revision 1296626370):
Mosque in Fallujah, Al Anbar, Iraq The Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai Mosque ( Arabic : جامع اﺍلشﯾﻳخ عبدﺩ اﺍلعزﺯﯾﻳزﺯ اﺍلسامرﺭاﺍئي ) is an Islamic mosque located in Fallujah , in the Al Anbar Governorate of Iraq . Historically, a predominantly Sunni city, prior to the Iraq War , Fallujah was described as “the city of 120 mosques”. ^ “Falluja: Embattled city of mosques” . BBC News . May 30, 2016 . Retrieved June 20, 2025 . ^ Thompson, Harvey (January 20, 2005). “The “City of Mosques” has become the “City of Rubble” ” . World Socialist Web Site . International Committee of the Fourth International . Retrieved June 20, 2025 . ^ Farook, Latheef (April 2, 2023). “Genocide and destruction of Fallujah” . Th…
Related
Section titled “Related”- The drift report: what changed across all 61,944 watched articles
- The case file for this article, with every snapshot and every marked removal
- Who made the cuts: removals grouped by the account that made them
- The live article on Wikipedia
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