The water diversion plan for the Draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes was accompanied by a series of propaganda articles by the Iraqi regime directed against the Ma'dan,[482] and the wetlands were systematically converted into a desert, forcing the residents out of their settlements in the region. The western Hammar Marshes and the Qurnah or Central Marshes became completely desiccated, while the eastern Hawizeh Marshes dramatically shrank. Furthermore, villages in the marshes were attacked and burnt down and there were reports of the water being deliberately poisoned.[483]