Developments in the 20th century, including the completion of the Samarra Barrage in the 1950s and growth of the modern city of Samarra, have resulted in parts of the ruins being overrun by new construction and cultivation. The Iraq War (2003–2011) also caused damage to the site, including in 2005 when a bomb was detonated at the top of the minaret of the Great Mosque. The palace complex of Sur Ashinas was the site of fighting between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Iraqi Army and tribal militias during the ISIL offensive in Iraq in 2015.