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Operation Phantom Thunder | |||||||
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Part of the Iraq War | |||||||
An American soldier fires an AT4 in the Adhamiyah neighborhood. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States Iraqi Army Revolution Brigade [1] Awakening Movement [2] Peshmerga [3] | Other Iraqi insurgents | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
David Petraeus Raymond Odierno | Abu Omar al-Baghdadi Abu Ayyub al-Masri | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~28,000 U.S./Iraqi Forces | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
220 security forces killed 20 militia killed [4] 140 killed 1 OH-58 Kiowa and 1 AH-64 Apache shot down | 1,196 killed (46 bombers), 6,702 captured, 51 boats destroyed, 1,113 weapons caches destroyed, 382 high value individuals captured or killed, 2,299 IEDs cleared, 52 VBIEDS neutralized, 142 total Battalion-level Joint Operations [4] [5] [6] [7] |
Operation Phantom Thunder began on 16 June 2007, when Multi-National Force-Iraq launched major offensive operations against al-Qaeda and other extremist terrorists operating throughout Iraq. It was the largest coordinated military operation since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. [8] Operation Phantom Thunder was a corps level operation, including Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala Province, Operation Marne Torch and Operation Commando Eagle in Babil Province, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon in Baghdad, Operation Alljah in Anbar Province, and continuing special forces actions against the Mahdi Army in southern Iraq and against Al-Qaeda leadership throughout the country. [9] The operation was one of the biggest military operations in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. [10]
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In mid-October 2006, al-Qaeda announced the creation of Islamic state of Iraq (ISI), [11] replacing the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) and its al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
From January to June 2007, in conjunction with the U.S. military's troop surge strategy, an additional five U.S. brigades were deployed to Iraq, with their primary focus on the Baghdad Belts—a series of key areas surrounding the Iraqi capital. This deployment was a critical part of the preparation for Operation Phantom Thunder, a major offensive aimed at stabilizing Baghdad and its surrounding regions by targeting insurgent strongholds.
During this period, U.S. forces engaged in a series of "shaping" operations designed to create favorable conditions for the larger offensive. These operations involved disrupting enemy movements, securing key terrain, and gathering intelligence, all of which were essential to the success of the upcoming main assault. [12]
On 14 June 2007, the Diyala Operational Command was established. This new Iraqi corps-level command structure significantly enhanced coordination among Iraqi security forces across the Diyala province, a region that was a focal point of insurgent activity. [13] The establishment of this command was a pivotal step in enabling the integration of Iraqi and coalition forces, thereby improving the effectiveness of the broader counterinsurgency efforts during Operation Phantom Thunder. This operation marked a significant escalation in coalition and Iraqi efforts to regain control of insurgent-dominated areas and restore stability to Iraq during a critical phase of the conflict.
U.S. and Iraqi forces launched attacks on Baghdad's northern and southern flanks mid-June to clear out Sunni insurgents, al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen who had fled the capital and Anbar during the four-month-old security operation. The U.S. wanted to take advantage of the arrival of the final brigade of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to open the concerted attacks.
Operation Imposing Law had already begun on 14 February in an attempt to take back Baghdad which had come more than 70 percent under insurgent control. It became part of Phantom Thunder when that operation started and during the period of Phantom Thunder 311 insurgents, including 26 bombers, were killed in fighting in Baghdad.
Operation Marne Torch began on 16 June in the Arab Jabour and Salman Pak area, conducted by the new Multinational Division Central. Arab Jabour, being only 20 kilometers southeast from Baghdad, is a major transit point for insurgent forces in and out of Baghdad. By 14 August, 2,500 Coalition and Iraqi forces had detained more than five dozen suspected extremists, destroyed 51 boats, killed 88 terrorists and discovered and destroyed 51 weapons caches. [14]
Operation Arrowhead Ripper began on 18 June, when Multi-National Division-North commenced offensive operations against Al-Qaeda positions in Baquba in Diyala province where fighting had already been going on for months. The operation started with air assaults under the cover of darkness in Baquba. Heavy street fighting lasted throughout the first day of the operation, mainly in the center of the city and around the main city market. On 22 June, Coalition attack helicopters killed 17 al-Qaeda gunmen and the vehicle they were using southwest of Khalis in Diyala province. [15] By 19 August, at least 227 insurgents had been killed in Baquba. [16]
Operation Commando Eagle began on 21 June in the Mahmudiyah region southwest of Baghdad, conducted by Multinational Division Central. This region contains the notorious Triangle of Death and was the location where three US soldiers were kidnapped in mid-May 2007. [16] The operation resulted in 31 detainees and the seizure of multiple large weapons caches. The operation was described as "a mix of helicopter borne air assaults and Humvee-mounted movements." [17]
Operation Alljah was conducted by Multi-National Forces West. In the western Al Anbar province operations attacked insurgent supply lines and weapons caches, targeting the regions of Fallujah, Karma and Tharthar. Commanders of the operation expressed belief that Fallujah would be cleared by August and that the regions of Karma and Tharthar would be cleared by July. [18] On 17 June, a raid near Karma killed a known Libyan Al-Qaeda fighter and six of his aides and on 21 June six al-Qaeda members were killed and five were detained during early-morning raids also near Karma. On 23 June, a U.S. airstrike killed five suspects and destroyed their car bomb near Fallujah. Insurgents also struck back in Fallujah with two suicide bombings and an attack on an off-duty policeman that left four policemen dead on 22 June. On 29 June, U.S. forces killed a senior al-Qaeda leader east of Fallujah. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Masri, an Egyptian, was a veteran of both battles of Fallujah. On 6 July, a raid west of Fallujah resulted in the killing of an Al-Qaeda in Iraq battalion commander and two of his men and the captured of two more insurgents. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
On 21 June, a joint Iraqi-American operation commenced near Hilla to capture or kill members of Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. [24] Iraqi Special Forces raided Sadr City and captured a "key insurgent leader" on 20 June, along with two associates. [16]
Numerous smaller operations had also been conducted against insurgents, which included attacks on retreating insurgent forces from Baquba in the town of Khalis and other insurgents targets throughout Diyala province. In the fighting in Diyala province, an additional 234 insurgents were killed by 14 August beside those killed in operation Arrowhead Ripper, mainly in clashes in and around the town of Khalis. The fiercest of the clashes happened when the U.S.-allied insurgent group 1920th revolution brigade and Al-Qaeda fought a battle at Shrween village in Muqdadiya on 4 July killing 20 members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. [25]
On 14 August, it was announced that the operation ended. Coalition and Iraqi security forces pushed into areas previously not under their control, and they also ejected insurgent groups from their strongholds in Northern Babil, eastern Anbar and Diyala provinces and on the southern outskirts of Baghdad. During the operation, Iraqi and Coalition forces conducted intelligence raids against al Qaeda in Iraq and the Iranian-backed cells nationwide, with a heavy emphasis on cells in Baghdad, Diyala, and central and northern Iraq. Operation Arrowhead Ripper continued for another five days until 19 August with more intense street fighting in Baquba. The operations continued into operation Phantom Strike. [26]
Baqubah is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The city is located some 50 km (31 mi) to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River. In 2003 it had an estimated population of some 280,000 people.
Diyala Governorate or Diyala Province is a governorate in northeastern Iraq.
Fallujah is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates River, it is located roughly 69 kilometres (43 mi) to the west of the capital city of Baghdad.
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.
The 1920 Revolution Brigades was a Sunni militant and insurgent group in Iraq, formed by former members of the disbanded Saddam-era Iraqi military, following the 2003 American invasion of Iraq. The group had used improvised explosive devices, and armed attacks against U.S.-led Coalition forces and comprises the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement. The group was named in reference to the Iraqi revolt of 1920.
The Second 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.
The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war; the Spring Fighting marked the entrance into the conflict of militias and religiously based militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a Mahdi Army.
The Diyala province campaign was a series of operations conducted by coalition forces against Iraqi insurgents and a number of bombing and guerrilla attacks against the security forces in Diyala Governorate of Iraq, with the purpose of control of the province.
The Battle of Baqubah II took place during the Iraq War in the capital of the Iraqi province Diyala, to the north-east of Baghdad. It began in early March 2007, when U.S. and Iraqi forces commenced preliminary operations to "establish a presence in Diyala beyond their Forward Operating Base".
Operation Alljah was an operation launched by Coalition forces in Iraq, mainly U.S. Marines, in June 2007 to secure the neighborhoods of Fallujah. The strategy of the operation was somewhat based on a successful operation in Ramadi conducted in 2006. Insurgents in the town of Karma nearby were also targeted during the operation, which was part of the overall operation Phantom Thunder.
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.
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.
The Baghdad Belts are the residential, agricultural and industrial areas, as well as communications and transportation infrastructure that encircle the Iraqi capital and connect it to other areas in Iraq. In the Iraq War, they were used by insurgents as staging points for operations in the capital.
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.
Operation Augurs of Prosperity was an Iraqi operation against insurgents in Diyala, north-east of Baghdad. The operation was launched on 29 July 2008 by elements of at least three Iraqi Army divisions, with four U.S. armored cavalry squadrons from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in support. The U.S. led operation was designated Operation Iron Pursuit and consisted of three sub-operations: Sabre Pursuit, Eagle Pursuit and Bastogne Pursuit.
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.
The 1st Division (IFF) is a motorized infantry division of the Iraqi Army headquartered in Camp Fallujah.
The Islamic State of Iraq was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law in Iraq.
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