Battle of Baquba
| date | June 2007 to September 2007 |
|---|---|
| place | Iraq |
| output | The city was almost completely brought under the control of the coalition |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
|
unknown |
|
| Troop strength | |
| About 10,000 | unknown |
| losses | |
|
18 fallen (US) |
227 fighters killed |
The Battle of Baquba took place from June to September 2007 in the Iraqi city of Baquba , the capital of the Diyala province . Baquba is located northeast of Baghdad and is a stronghold of extremists. The operation began with various smaller missions with which the US troops wanted to secure additional positions in addition to their previous base there.
In June 2007, Operation Arrowhead Ripper was carried out with the aim of freeing Baquba and the surrounding area from insurgents and bringing them back under the control of coalition forces . In the course of the operation, the goal was largely achieved, although insurgents were later sighted in Baquba and the surrounding area.
Operation Phantom Strike began in August 2007 and was intended to further consolidate the success of Operation Phantom Thunder in northern Iraq . As part of this offensive, Operation Lightning Hammer was carried out north of Baquba .
background
In the course of troop increases and various operations in spring 2007, al-Qaida fighters withdrew from Baghdad and the surrounding area to the Diyala province. They named Baquba the capital of the "Islamic State in Iraq". The insurgents set up positions, training camps and supply depots all over the province and mined roads with booby traps .
Units involved
Coalition forces
- 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 2nd Infantry Division. Commanded by COL Townsend
- 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry. Commanded by LTC Antonia
- B Troop, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment merged with 5-20.
- 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry. Commanded by LTC Smiley
- Parts of the Iraqi 5th Division
US units
- 4th SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division
- 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry,
- 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 82nd Airborne Division
- 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry
- 3rd BCT, 1st Cavalry Division
- 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry
- 25th Infantry Division
- Parts of 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd BCT
- Attack helicopters of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Insurgents
Exact list unknown, the majority of the fighters probably belonged to the Khalf al-Mutayibeen - the alliance of Islamist Sunni groups .
The battle
The battle for Baquba begins
On March 10, 2007, the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col. Bruce Antonia from Baghdad to fight the "Islamic State in Iraq" in its self-declared capital. After the US troops reached Baquba on March 13, fighting began in Baquba and the surrounding area. The insurgents were prepared for the attack and had fortified the city with defensive positions and set up booby traps. Shortly after it began, the offensive was stopped for the first time when about 30 booby traps were discovered on a two-kilometer road. An explosive device had destroyed a Stryker right at the start of the attack . US troops were ambushed and attacked with booby traps throughout the day. By the end of the day, 2 Strykers had been destroyed, 1 soldier killed and 12 wounded. With the help of air support, US forces were able to kill around 40 to 50 insurgents.
On the same day, the battalion also began an attack on a jungle-like area surrounding the city of Buhriz . This was firmly in the hands of the "Revolutionary Brigades of 1920". Hand-to-hand fighting broke out in this area, not dissimilar to fighting during the Vietnam War .
The rebels carried out brief ambush attacks and had partially mined the area. After a week of heavy fighting, US forces were finally able to take control of the area. Over the next few months, an American task force led by the 5th Battalion captured the city of Baquba in its heaviest fighting to date. The heavily fortified districts of Tahrir and New Baquba were the first to be captured by US troops. The advance was delayed again by booby traps, and six American soldiers were killed in an explosion on May 6th. The house-to-house fighting in Baquba was the fiercest clashes in Iraq at the time. In a desperate attempt, the insurgents failed to regain control of Baquba. After the eastern part of the city was captured, the western part of the city was surrounded by US troops. At the beginning of July, another battalion was called in to support them to take the western part of the city.
Operation Arrowhead Ripper
In June 2007, the coalition forces began a major offensive called Operation Phantom Thunder , with the aim of pacifying the area around Baghdad. As part of the offensive launched Multinational Division - North , the Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala province. The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry, began the offensive with an air landing on the morning of June 18, 2007. By dawn, the ground forces and attack helicopters had killed more than 22 insurgents. A total of 30 insurgents and one US soldier were killed in the fighting on the first day.
A total of around 10,000 soldiers took part in the operation , with the assistance of attack helicopters and Stryker and Bradley combat vehicles. According to one officer, the ultimate goal was the liberation of Baquba and the establishment of a new public administration and the destruction of all elements of al-Qaeda in the region.
On June 23, two senior members of an extremist group were captured and taken to Baghdad. It is believed, however, that most of the leaders left Baquba before the fighting began.
Heavy fighting broke out again on June 26th, and by that day around 55 insurgents had been killed.
By June 28, the fighting in some parts of Baquba could already be stopped. The coalition forces were able to move relatively unhindered in some parts of the city in daylight. On July 1, three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a raid , but most of the violence was now barely rebellious.
On July 4th it was announced that Baquba was now as safe as other regions in the area of the Multinational Division - North.
However, in the course of the operation, the location of Al-Khalis, around 15 kilometers from Baquba, increasingly developed into a rallying point for extremists. The nearby FOB Grizzly and Camp Ashraf , a little further away, could not stop the insurgents.
On July 3, MNF troops killed 25 insurgents during an operation near Mukhisa , northeast of Baquba. This three-day operation was intended to support Operation Arrowhead Ripper . However, a little later there was fighting again, in which the US troops suffered some losses in the same week.
With the mass media unable to access the combat area, very little was known about what was going on in Diyala Province, specifically the areas around Muallimin, Mafraq and Gatoun. Local residents later reported heavy bombing and the Iraqi Islamic Party accused coalition forces of having committed another massacre in Baquba . A statement from this group said that US-led operations had killed over 350 people in Baquba, most of whom were still buried under rubble.
The US troops had to admit that around 80 percent of all al-Qaida leaders had been able to flee the combat area at the start of the operation.
Operation Phantom Thunder ended on August 14, and with it the subordinate Operation Arrowhead Ripper on August 19 . Baquba could be secured in the course of the fighting, but insurgents were still there, although not in as large numbers as before.
Operation Lightning Hammer
The operation Lightning Hammer began on 13 August 2008 as successor of Operation Arrowhead Ripper as part of Operation Phantom Strike . The aim of the approximately 16,000 US troops and their Iraqi allies involved was to clear the Diyala River valley of insurgents. In the course of the operation, 50 villages in Diyala were liberated, 26 al-Qaida members were killed and another 37 suspects were arrested. The operation ended on September 1, 2007 and was superseded by Operation Lightning Hammer II .
Result
Web links
- Joe Klein, Turning on al-Qaeda in Baquba - Time.com (English)
- Antonieta Rico, Soldiers in Baqouba Keep Pressure on Al-Qaida in Iraq - Newsblaze.com (English)
- Alexandra Zavis, A band of survivors returns from Iraq - Los Angeles Times (English)
- Joshua Partlow, Troops Take Embattled Baqubah Bit by Bit, US Commander Says - Washington Post
- Michael Gordon, For GI's in Iraq, a Harrowing Day Facing a Trap - New York Times (English)