2004 Iraq spring fighting

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2004 Iraq spring fighting
Part of the Iraq War

US soldiers peer over a rooftop ledge to fix in enemy targets in Fallujah
DateApril 4, 2004 – June 24, 2004
Location
Iraq
Result

Indecisive

  • Major strategic gains by insurgents
  • U.S. manages to retain control of at least 60% of the country
Belligerents
Coalition Forces:
Multinational forces in Iraq
 Insurgent groups:
Other insurgent groups and militias
Commanders and leaders
United States Gen. John Abizaid
United States Col. Peter Mansoor		 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad)
Mahdi Al-Sumaidaie
(Islamist leader)
Abdullah al-Janabi
(Islamist leader)
Omar Hadid
(Islamist commander)
Muqtada al-Sadr (Mahdi Army)
Strength
200,000 35,000
Casualties and losses
United States 217 killed
1 captured
2,500 wounded
Iraq 150 killed;
14,800 deserted
Other coalition forces:
16 killed
107 wounded [1][2][3][4][5]		 1,342 killed
430 captured
(coalition claim)

The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of

Sunni) militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a Mahdi Army
.

Prelude

The first months of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. Guerrilla attacks lessened in intensity while insurgent forces reorganized, studying the multinational forces' tactics and planning a renewed offensive.

Causes

The first cause of the Spring Fighting was the rise of a conservative Shiite cleric

Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr). With the fall of Saddam Hussein, Muqtada al-Sadr emerged as a Shia leader by rejecting the US-led occupation of Iraq. Al-Sadr created the Mahdi Army in June 2003.[6]

The second cause, probably the flashpoint for the conflict, was the

private military contractors on March 31, 2004. Five days before American troops withdrew from Fallujah after intense fighting on March 26, 2004 (at which point Fallujah had already been declared insurgent-occupied) killed one Marine. The troops retreated to the city's outskirts. The four independent contractors were guarding food shipments for a U.S. base on the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq, when they took a wrong turn and entered the city. They were killed in a grenade attack by suspected insurgents, and their corpses were mutilated by cheering crowds.[7][8]

Provocation and the start of the offensive

On March 28, the U.S. overseer of Iraq, Paul Bremer, ordered the 60-day closure of Al-Hawza, a newspaper published by Muqtada al-Sadr's group, on the charges of inciting violence against the occupation.[9] The next day thousands of Iraqis rallied outside the offices of Al-Hawza in support of the newspaper. The decision was made to use 984th MP CO to shut down the newspaper based on information provided by the 148th MP Team (MPI/PIO).[10]

On April 3, Bremer sent troops to al-Sadr's home and arrested Mustafa Yaqoubi, a top lieutenant,[10] sparking further protests.

On April 4, Spanish-led troops clashed with armed demonstrators in Najaf demanding Yaqubi's release, resulting in the death of two coalition soldiers, one American and one Salvadoran, and at least 20 Iraqis. According to one protester, armed supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, intermingled with the crowd, fired the first shot.

Blackwater contractists and Spanish armoured vehicles, which repelled the attack of several technicals
. Four Spanish
Mahdi army. One Salvadoran serviceman had been killed and five wounded in the first insurgent assault. The Spanish APC platoon rescued all the personnel in two trips, supported by US Apache helicopters.[12] The same day al-Sadr issued a statement calling on his supporters to stop staging demonstrations "because your enemy prefers terrorism."[13]

"America has unsheathed its fangs and its despicable intentions, and the conscientious Iraqi people cannot remain silent at all. They must defend their rights in the ways they see fit," the statement said, according to The Washington Post.

A day after the statement given by Sadr, violent protests occurred throughout the Shiite south, soon spilling over into a violent uprising by Mahdi Army militiamen, which was fully underway by April 6, 2004.

Unrest in Basra was also inflamed by the publication of fake torture pictures by Piers Morgan whilst editor of the British Newspaper "The Mirror" with one officer briefing as such: "Col Black told the press conference: "These photographs are a recruiting poster for al-Qa'eda and every other terrorist organisation. They have made the lives of our Armed Forces in Iraq that much more difficult and dangerous."

April fighting

Baghdad and the Shia south

The Mahdi Army forces began an offensive in Najaf, Kufa, Kut, and Sadr City on April 4, 2004. They began by taking control of public buildings and police stations. In Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraqi police were expelled from three stations. Members of the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division and the 759th Military Police Battalion were sent out to retake them. Militiamen ambushed the U.S. forces and eight U.S. troops were killed, and 51 more wounded in the bloody battle.[14] U.S. forces subsequently regained control of the police stations after running firefights with Mahdi rebels that killed 35 Mahdi Army militiamen. Mahdi Army members still maintained some influence over many of the slum areas of Sadr City, however. The fighting was not only in Sadr City, instead, it spread to other parts of Baghdad throughout the month. The highway linking Baghdad with the western province of Anbar was cut by the insurgents and resupplies for Marines in the province could only be delivered by helicopter.

The militants gained partial control of

Tigris River bridge. On the same day, Karbala came under full Mahdi Army control.[16][17] Spanish troops killed seven al-Sadr insurgents in several ambushes in south-central Iraq the following week, before being ordered to withdraw by the new-elected Spanish government.[18]

By April 9, 2004, exactly a year to the day after the statue of Saddam Hussein was symbolically torn down, the US-led forces lost control of all the parts of Iraq that had been gained in the year since that event.

Keith Matthew Maupin
, and an American truck driver, Thomas Hamill, were captured. Hamill managed to escape from his captors on May 2, 2004, while Maupin was executed and his remains recovered four years later.

After sporadic clashes, Coalition forces temporarily suppressed most militia activity in

Diwaniyah
, an unknown number still left in Amarah and Basra, and 1,000-2,000 still holed up in the Najaf-Kufa region.

Al Anbar operations

First Battle of Fallujah

Main article: First Battle of Fallujah

Coincidentally, the offensive against Fallujah started on the same day that the Shia uprising began. In response to the killing of the four Americans on March 31 and intense political pressure, the U.S. Marines commenced

Iraqi National Guard
would fight alongside the U.S. Marines in the operation, but on the dawn of the invasion they discarded their uniforms and deserted. Heavy fighting lasted until April 9, 2004, when, again under enormous public pressure, the offensive was called off because of great civilian losses. At that point, the Marines had only managed to gain control of about 25 percent of the city.

Battle of Ramadi

Main article: Battle of Ramadi (2004)

During the fighting in Anbar there was also a major insurgent attack on the city of Ramadi on April 6, 2004, which began when a force of 300 insurgents attacked Marine patrols throughout the city in an attempt to relieve pressure on Fallujah. In heavy street fighting over four days 16 U.S. Marines and an estimated 250 insurgents lost their lives.[21]

Battle of Husaybah

Main article: Battle of Husaybah (2004)

Immediately following the Battle of Ramadi there was another insurgent attack on the town of Husaybah on the Syrian border on April 17, 2004. Like in Ramadi, insurgents attacked the Marine garrison and were repulsed; 5 Marines and 150 insurgents were killed.

Fallujah peace attempts

The occupying force in Fallujah on April 9 allowed more than 70,000 women, children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city, reportedly also allowing males of military age to leave.

On April 10, the U.S. military declared a

imams refused to honor the cease-fire agreement, and repeatedly sent mujahideen fighters to attack the Marines. The city's main hospital was occupied by Coalition Forces to protect its patients, and a sniper was placed on top of the hospital's water tower
. There were also numerous reports of the use of Close Air Support by Coalition Forces in Fallujah during this time, in actions against insurgents.

The U.S. forces sought to negotiate a settlement, but promised to restart the offensive to retake the city if one was not reached. Military commanders said their goal in the siege was to capture those responsible for the numerous deaths of American and Iraqi security personnel. As the siege continued, insurgents continued to conduct hit-and-run attacks on U.S. Marine positions, despite the fact that U.S. Marines were under a unilateral

cease-fire because they were not being resupplied, due to the insurgent capture of the main highway from Baghdad
to Anbar.

On May 1, 2004, U.S. forces withdrew completely from the city, and control of the city was turned over to the Fallujah Brigade (which was under control of a general who had served under

Baghdadi, Haditha
, as well as numerous smaller villages - came under insurgent control.

Hostage tactics

Main article: Foreign hostages in Iraq

It is at this time during the war that

Nicholas Berg) and a South Korean (Kim Sun-il
), among others, were beheaded during this period.

Operations in May

On May 4, following a breakdown in negotiations, coalition forces began a counter-offensive to eliminate the Mahdi Army in southern Iraq. The first wave began with simultaneous raids in Karbala and

Diwaniyah
on militia forces. It was followed by a second wave on May 5 in Karbala, and more attacks which seized the governor's office in Najaf on May 6. Four U.S. soldiers and an estimated 86 militiamen were killed in the fighting. Several high-ranking militia commanders were also killed in a separate raid by
Special Operations
units.

On May 8, U.S. forces launched a follow-up offensive into Karbala, launching a two-pronged attack into the city. U.S. tanks also launched an incursion into Sadr City. At the same time, perhaps as a diversionary tactic, hundreds of Mahdi Army insurgents swept through Basra, firing on British patrols and seizing parts of the city. Two militants were killed and several British troops were wounded.

On May 24, after suffering heavy losses in weeks of fighting, Mahdi Army forces withdrew from the city of Karbala. This left the Najaf-Kufa region the only area still under firm Mahdi control, though it was also under sustained American assault. Several hundred Mahdi Army rebels in total were killed in clashes with American forces. Unfazed by the fighting, Muqtada al-Sadr regularly gave Friday sermons in Kufa throughout the uprising.

On May 30, American forces withdrew from the interior of the city of Samarra, and encircled it. Insurgents took full control of the city. On the same day, insurgents also took control of Latifiya and Yusufiyah south of Baghdad, effectively cutting Highway One between Baghdad and Karbala, and the Americans responded by rerouting traffic onto Highway Eight to maintain contact with the south of the country.

Close of operations

On June 6, 2004,

insurgent offensive on June 24, 2004, one hundred twenty-nine Iraqis and four American soldiers were killed. The number of insurgent casualties is unknown.[22]

Aftermath

The United States estimated that around 1,342

Iraqi government
. With this, the occupation was officially over, but coalition forces remained in large numbers in the country. On the day that the transfer of authority occurred, three American Marines were killed in Baghdad and one British soldier was killed in Basra.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Period Details". Archived from the original on 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  2. ^ "Period Details". Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  3. ^ "Period Details". Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  4. ^ ""Forces: U.S. & Coalition/Casualties - Special Reports:"". CNN. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  5. ^ Microsoft Word - $ASQISFChronologyMay2006.doc
  6. ^ "Breaking News, World News and Video from al Jazeera".
  7. ^ "U.S. expects more attacks in Iraq". CNN. May 6, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  8. ^ frontline: private warriors: contractors: the high-risk contracting business | PBS
  9. ISBN 1400044871
    .
  10. ^ a b FRONTLINE: the lost year in iraq: timeline - fighting on two fronts | PBS
  11. ^ "Iraq protests end in 20 deaths". BBC News. April 4, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  12. ^ "La verdadera batalla del 4 de abril". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2017-04-02. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  13. ^ "Naomi Klein". The Globe and Mail. 2004-04-05. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  14. ^ "Fighting kills dozens of Iraqis, 8 U.S. soldiers". CBC News. April 6, 2004.
  15. ^ "Spanish Base Attacked in Najaf". Islamweb. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  16. ^ "Seven U.S. troops die in Baghdad fighting". CNN. April 5, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  17. ^ "CNN.com - Coalition forces under fire in Ramadi - Apr 6, 2004". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  18. ^ "CNN.com - Spanish troops pull out of Najaf - Apr 27, 2004". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  19. ^ "DEBKAfile - US Troops Pull out of Major Centers as Iraqi Security Forces and Interim Government Buckle". Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  20. ^ Chandrasekaran, pp. 274–5.
  21. ^ Zoroya, Gregg (July 12, 2004). "Fight for Ramadi exacts heavy toll on Marines". USA Today. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  22. ^ "Baqouba Sealed Off as U.S. Forces Lose Control of City - The NewStandard". Archived from the original on 2007-02-23. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
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