Battle of Tal Afar (2005)

Last updated

Battle of Tal Afar
Part of the Iraq War
U.S. Army and Iraqi soldiers, Tal Afar, Iraq, Sept. 11, 2005.jpg
U.S. Army soldiers and Iraqi soldiers patrolling through downtown Tal Afar, Iraq, September 11, 2005.
DateSeptember 118, 2005
Location
Result American-Iraqi tactical victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States.svg United States
Flag of Iraq.svg Iraq
Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Other insurgents
Commanders and leaders
H. R. McMaster
Khursheed Saleem Daski
Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi [1]
Strength
Flag of Iraq.svg 5,000
Flag of the United States.svg 3,500
Unknown
Casualties and losses
Flag of the United States.svg 4 killed [2]
Flag of Iraq.svg 15 killed [3]
163 killed
440–700 captured [3] [4]

The Battle of Tal Afar also known as Operation Restoring Rights [5] was a military offensive conducted by the United States Army and supported by Iraqi forces, to eliminate Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents in the city of Tal Afar, Iraq in response to the increase of insurgent attacks against U.S. and Iraqi positions in the area and to end the brutal tactics against the population by the terrorists. [5] Coalition Forces consisted of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, [5] elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, [4] and two brigades of the Iraqi 3rd Division, all were under the command of Col. H.R. McMaster. AQI had used the city as a staging ground for moving foreign fighters into Iraq since early 2005. [6] The city was temporarily cleared for elections in 2005, but was not secured in a long-term view.

The offensive was launched on September 1, 2005 in a joint United States Army and the New Iraqi Army operation to destroy suspected insurgents' havens and base of operations in Tal Afar. The initial fighting was heavy, but most of the city was secured on September 3. Although sporadic fighting and attacks would continue through most of September until the operation was declared finished on September 18.

Battle

Coalition forces developed and executed a detailed, painstaking methodology, that combined intelligence gathering, combat missions and stability programmes to reconstruct Coalition control of the city, one neighbourhood at a time. [7] McMaster directed civilians to evacuate from the city in order to allow his forces to use artillery and attack helicopters to overcome the insurgents' makeshift Fortifications. [6] The local rebels were reportedly led by Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, a AQI judge and official. [1] Coalition forces fought street-to-street engagements with AQI terrorists and other insurgents, AQI insurgents tried to hold their ground, they also planned and executed coordinated attacks against Coalition troops, they also demonstrated the ability to somewhat command and control the insurgents in the City. [5] Groups of insurgents perhaps hundreds massed to counterattack the advancing US and Iraqi forces, but Abrams tanks and Bradley IFVs "tore them apart." [6] In early September, the insurgents launched a counter-information propaganda campaign; [8] over 17 days, US forces systematically destroyed insurgent cell throughout the city. [4] Despite being encircled, some AQI terrorists escaped the city. [9]

By September 18, the battle was over, Coalition forces succeeded in significantly eliminating AQI and other insurgents from the city, thereby creating a secure environment for the referendum in October and national elections in December 2005, Tal Afar went from being the city with the lowest number of voters to the highest in the country, schools and businesses reopened and the population transitioned back to living a normal life as possible. [5] After the battle, McMaster positioned his troops 29 combat outposts throughout the city to hold the cleared areas, from these outposts they saturated Iraqi neighbourhoods with patrols, once civilians returned to the city, the use of force was minimized. 2nd Battalion 325th Infantry Regiment did not kill any civilians which won the appreciation of the locals; building intelligence on insurgents was made easier with the cooperation of the Shia minority in the city. Similarly McMaster could recruit a police force because the Shia were willing to serve, whereas Sunnis considered the Iraqi Army and police to be their enemy. [6] The operation was considered one of the first successful counterinsurgency operations of the war and President George W. Bush remarked that "the story of Tal Afar gives me confidence in our strategy, because in that city we see the outlines of Iraq we've been fighting for." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Iraq War</span> Sequence of events in the US invasion of Iraq

The following is a timeline of major events during the Iraq War, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)</span> Sectarian/anti-government warfare in American-occupied Iraq

An Iraqi insurgency began shortly after the 2003 American invasion deposed longtime leader Saddam Hussein. It is considered to have lasted until the end of the Iraq War and U.S. withdrawal in 2011. It was followed by a renewed insurgency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency</span> Part of the Iraq War

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq was completed and the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled in May 2003, an Iraqi insurgency began that would last until the United States left in 2011. The 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency lasted until early 2006, when it escalated from an insurgency to a Sunni-Shia civil war, which became the most violent phase of the Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tal Afar</span> Place in Nineveh Governorate, 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.

Operation Together Forward, also known as Forward Together, was an unsuccessful offensive against sectarian militias in Baghdad to significantly reduce the violence in which had seen a sharp uprise since the mid-February 2006 bombing of the Askariya Mosque, a major Shiite Muslim shrine, in Samarra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ramadi (2006)</span> 2006 battle in the Iraq War

The Battle of Ramadi was fought during the Iraq War from March 2006 to November 2006, for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A joint US military force under the command 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Imposing Law</span> Operation through Baghdad

Operation Imposing Law, also known as Operation Law and Order, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon or Baghdad Security Plan (BSP), was a joint Coalition-Iraqi security plan conducted throughout Baghdad. Under the Surge plan developed in late 2006, Baghdad was to be divided into nine zones, with Iraqi and American soldiers working side by side to clear each sector of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents and establish Joint Security Stations so that reconstruction programs could begin in safety. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, went so far as to say Iraq would be "doomed" if this plan failed. Numerous members of Congress stated the plan was a critical period for the U.S. presence in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sons of Iraq</span> Iraqi military group in Al Anbar (2005–2013)

The Sons of Iraq or al-Sahwah were a coalition in the Al Anbar province in Iraq between Sunni tribal leaders as well as former Ba'athist Iraqi military officers that united in 2005 to maintain stability in their communities. A moderate group, they were initially sponsored by General Petraeus and the US military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Phantom Strike</span>

Operation Phantom Strike was a major offensive launched by the Multi-National Corps – Iraq on 15 August 2007 in a crackdown to disrupt both the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and Shia insurgent operations in Iraq. It consisted of a number of simultaneous operations throughout Iraq focused on pursuing remaining ISI terrorists and Iranian-supported insurgent groups. It was concluded in January 2008 and followed up with Operation Phantom Phoenix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Qaeda in Iraq</span> Salafi jihadist militant group (2004–2006)

Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, more commonly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, was a Salafi jihadist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri until its disbandment on 15 October 2006.

Operation Phantom Phoenix was a major nationwide offensive launched by the Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I) on 8 January 2008 in an attempt to build on the success of the two previous corps-level operations, Operation Phantom Thunder and Operation Phantom Strike and further reduce violence and secure Iraq's population, particularly in the capital Baghdad. The offensive consisted of a number of joint Coalition and Iraqi Army operations throughout northern Iraq as well as in the southern Baghdad Belts.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2003–2011)</span> Campaign during the Iraq War

The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Division (Iraq)</span> Military unit

The 3rd Division was a formation of the Iraqi Army. It was active by 1941, disbanded along with the rest of the Iraqi Army in 2003, but reactivated by 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Sayeed</span>

Operation Sayeed also known as Operation Hunter in English, was a series of operations conducted in western Al Anbar Governorate by the United States Marine Corps in 2005. It was an umbrella operation, consisting of at least 11 named operations between July 2005 to December 2005. The purpose was to drive Al-Qaeda in Iraq forces from the Western Euphrates River Valley. Some parts of Operation Sayeed were Operation Steel Curtain and Operation Iron Fist.

On 10 June 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck the central and northern parts of Iraq, killing at least 94 people and injuring 289 others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Karmah offensive</span>

The Al-Karmah offensive, codenamed Fajr al-Karma, was an offensive launched by the Iraqi Army and anti-ISIL Sunni tribal fighters to recapture the Al-Karmah district taken by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq. The offensive began on 14 April 2015. During the offensive the anti-ISIL forces captured part of the city of Al-Karmah, and the old road of Al-Karmah.

This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq in 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 Al-Tamimi, Aymenn (September 11, 2023). "A Brief Biography of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi: The Islamic State's Second Caliph". Middle East Forum . Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  2. "icasualties.org - Operation Iraqi Freedom - Iraq Coalition Casualties: Military Fatalities". Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "CNN.com - 6 insurgents killed in northern Iraq - Sep 18, 2005". Cnn.com. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Guardia, Mike, The Fires of Babylon: Eagle Troop and the Battle of 73 Easting, 2015, Casemate Publishers
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Denning, Jeffrey, Warrior SOS: Military Veterans' Stories of Faith, Emotional Survival and Living with PTSD , 2015, Cedar Fort, Inc.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Marston, Daniel and Malkasian, Carter, Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare (Companion), 2011, Osprey Publishing
  7. Gambone, Michael, and Piehler, G. Kurt, Small Wars: Low-Intensity Threats and the American Response since Vietnam (Legacies of War), 2013, University of Tennessee Press, ISBN   1572339144 ISBN   978-1572339149
  8. Hashim, Ahmed, Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq (Crises in World Politics), 2006, C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd ISBN   1850657955 ISBN   978-1850657958
  9. Counterinsurgency Reader II - Special Edition 2008, 2008, Combined Arms Center

36°22′27″N42°27′13″E / 36.3742°N 42.4536°E / 36.3742; 42.4536