2008 al-Qaeda offensive in Iraq | |||||||
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Part of Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
Coalition 177,000 Contractors 182,000 [1] [2] Iraqi Security Forces 407,000 (180,000 Army and 227,000 Police) [3] Awakening Council militias 65,000-80,000 [4] | 850 [5] – 1,000+ [6] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
100+ soldiers, policemen and militiamen killed | Dozens of fighters and suicide bombers killed | ||||||
250+ civilians killed |
The 2008 al-Qaeda offensive in Iraq was a month-long offensive conducted by al-Qaeda in Iraq against the multinational coalition of USA, UK, Australia and Poland. [7]
On 19 April 2008, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Ayyub al-Masri, called for a month-long offensive against U.S. and Iraqi forces. However, the offensive is generally considered[ citation needed ] to have started four days earlier, when a series of suicide bombings in four major cities killed nearly 60 people.
Shortly after al-Masri's announcement a steady bombing campaign commenced against coalition forces. The series of bombings raised fears that remaining Sunni insurgents, who were still fighting the central government, were regrouping following their major defeat during Operation Phantom Phoenix earlier that year, that left them with only one major urban stronghold in the north, in Mosul.
The offensive ended after a month with no clear gains for either side.
15 April 2008: In Baquba, as many as 53 people were killed and at least 70 more were wounded during a car bombing near the courthouse. [8] A suicide bomber killed 13 people and injured 20 more outside a kebab restaurant in Ramadi. [9] Five policemen were killed and four more were wounded during a suicide bombing at a checkpoint in the Hamidhiya area of Ramadi. [10] In Mosul, a double car bombing killed three people and wounded at least 16 people. [11] In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed four people and wounded 15 in a central neighborhood. [8]
17 April 2008: Near Tuz Khormato in the village of al-Bu Mohammed, at least 50 people were killed and 55 more were wounded when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives at a funeral for two U.S.-allied militia members killed a day earlier. The older bomber was dressed in traditional garb and allowed to enter the funeral freely. [12]
18 April 2008: A suicide bomber attacked a U.S. military patrol near Tikrit killing one soldier. [13]
21 April 2008: A female suicide bomber attacked a U.S.-allied militia post, killing four people and wounding five others in Baquba. [14]
22 April 2008: A suicide car bomber at a checkpoint near Ramadi killed two U.S. Marines and wounded three more. Two policemen and 24 civilians were also wounded. A second car bombing, this one at a police station in the city, wounded 20 people, including women and policemen. [15] In Jalawla, a female suicide bomber killed eight people and wounded 17 at a police station. [16]
23 April 2008: A coordinated attack in Mosul left four dead and nine injured. First, a suicide bomber detonated his vest. When first responders arrived a car bomb blasted them. [17]
25 April 2008: A series of bombings hit Mosul. Six people were killed, including two policemen, and five others were wounded during a suicide car bombing. Another suicide car bomber killed three and wounded six at an Iraqi army checkpoint. A suicide fuel truck bomber wounded 40 at an Iraqi army base. A car bomb in the Danadan neighborhood wounded three people. [18] [19]
27 April 2008: Another suicide bombing was conducted in Mosul which left four policemen dead. [20]
29 April 2008: A female suicide bomber killed two U.S.-allied militiamen and wounded ten others in Baquba. [21] Meanwhile, another female suicide bomber in al-Saldiya killed one person and injured five people, including the district chief. [21]
30 April 2008: A U.S. soldier was killed in an explosion near Mosul. [22]
1 May 2008: A female suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded 76 others in Balad Ruz. After the bomber struck a wedding convoy, another suicide bomber targeted the first responders who arrived on the scene. [23] A car bomb targeting a U.S. patrol killed ten and wounded 26 others near Camp Sara in Baghdad, one U.S. soldier was among the dead and three American soldiers were wounded. [24]
2 May 2008: Insurgents infiltrated across the Syrian border into Al Anbar province and rounded up and beheaded 11 policemen, along with a son of one of them, from the al-Rimana police station in the area of the border city of Al-Qaim. [25] Four U.S. Marines were killed when their vehicle drove over an IED in al-Anbar province. [26] Also, two Georgian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province. [27]
5 May 2008: Insurgents attacked an Iraqi Army checkpoint in Balad Ruz killing 10 Iraqi soldiers and wounding 13. [28]
13 May 2008: A roadside bomb in Mosul killed five Iraqi soldiers.[ citation needed ]
14 May 2008: A suicide bomber attacked a Sunni funeral west of Baghdad killing 22 people. A teenage girl, who was strapped with an explosive belt, blew up near Yusifiyah, targeting an Iraqi Army patrol, leaving an Iraqi Army captain dead and seven other soldiers wounded. [29]
16 May 2008: A suicide car bomber attacked a Fallujah police station. Four policemen were killed and nine others were wounded. [30]
18 May 2008: A car bomb hit an Iraqi Army patrol in the Zayouna district of Baghdad killing two soldiers and wounding four others.[ citation needed ]
19 May 2008: In the town of Baaj, 130 kilometers from Mosul, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying police recruits killing 11 of them. [31]
Events in the year 2005 in Iraq.
Tal Afar is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located 63 km (39 mi) west of Mosul, 52 km (32 mi) east of Sinjar and 200 km (120 mi) northwest of Kirkuk. Its local inhabitants are exclusively Turkmen.
Chlorine bombings in Iraq began as early as October 2004, when insurgents in Al Anbar province started using chlorine gas in conjunction with conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices.
The 2008 Nineveh campaign was a series of offensives and counter-attacks between insurgent and Coalition forces for control of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq in early-to-mid-2008. Some fighting also occurred in the neighboring Kirkuk Governorate.
In 2003, there were 25 suicide bombings executed by 32 attackers.
2004 was most notably marked by a series of battles in Fallujah. See Fallujah during the Iraq War.
2006 in Iraq marked the onset of sectarian war, making it the deadliest year of the war.
This list details terrorist incidents occurring in Iraq in 2007. In 2007, the US sent 20,000 additional troops into combat as part of a troop surge. There were 442 bombings in 2007, the second-most in a single year during the Iraq War. Major events included a January 16 attack on Mustansiriyah University, which killed 70 and injured 180, and February 3 bombings at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad, which killed 135 people.
This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008. In 2008, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On February 1, a pair of bombs detonated at a market in Baghdad, killing 99 people and injuring 200. Two other particularly deadly attacks occurred on March 6, and June 17.
This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2009. In 2009, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On April 23, a suicide bombing to a restaurant in Miqdadiyah killed 57 people, while a separate bombing in southeastern Baghdad killed 28. The next day, on April 24, a Shi'a shrine was targeted, in a bombing that killed 60. October and December saw two attacks kill over 100 people, with bombings on October 25 and December 8.
The 2009 Al Anbar VBIED Campaign were a series of carbomb attacks throughout Al Anbar Province in the months following the withdrawal of US forces from Iraqi cities on June 30, 2009. In early 2009, U.S. forces began pulling out of cities across the country, turning over the task of maintaining security to the Iraqi Army, police, and their paramilitary allies. Experts and many Iraqis worried that in the absence of U.S. soldiers, AQI might resurface and attempt mass-casualty attacks to destabilize the country. There was indeed a spike in the number of suicide attacks, and through mid and late 2009, al-Qaeda in Iraq rebounded in strength and appeared to be launching a concerted effort to cripple the Iraqi government.
Events in the year 2010 in Iraq.
This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.
On 25 August 2010, a string of attacks in Iraqi cities including Al-Muqdadiya, Kut, Baghdad, Fallujah, Tikrit, Kerbala, Kirkuk, Basra, Ramadi, Dujail, Mosul and Iskandariyah targeting mostly Iraqi security forces and checkpoints left at least 53 people dead and more than 270 injured.
The 2013 Hawija clashes relate to a series of violent attacks within Iraq, as part of the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests and Iraqi insurgency post-U.S. withdrawal. On 23 April, an army raid against a protest encampment in the city of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, led to dozens of civilian deaths and the involvement of several insurgent groups in organized action against the government, leading to fears of a return to a wide-scale Sunni–Shia conflict within the country. By 27 April, more than 300 people were reported killed and scores more injured in one of the worst outbreaks of violence since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011.
From 15 to 21 May 2013, a series of deadly bombings and shootings struck the central and northern parts of Iraq, with a few incidents occurring in towns in the south and far west as well. The attacks killed at least 449 people and left 732 others injured in one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence in years.
During the first two weeks of July 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck across several cities in Iraq, killing at least 389 people and injuring more than 800 others.
The following lists events the happened in 2013 in Iraq.
This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017 in its final year.
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