 Despite being caught unaware, the defenders at the Anbar Gate put up a staunch resistance, but eventually they were forced to retreat and the Anbar Gate was set on fire.The Samarrans then entered Baghdad and spread throughout the Harbiyah quarter of the city, setting fire to the areas that they entered.The residents of the neighborhoods that the Samarrans passed through fled for their lives, and the Samarran troops planted flags in the parts of the city that they conquered.