| 12th Division | |
|---|---|
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| Active | 1959–2003 2008–2014 |
| Country | Ba'athist Iraq (1968–2003) Iraq (2003–present) |
| Branch | Iraqi Army |
| Type | Light infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of |  Iraqi Ground Forces Command |
| Engagements | Gulf War Iraq War |
The 12th Light Infantry Division was a formation of the Iraqi Army. It dissolved under ISIS pressure during the Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) and was not reformed.
The 12th Division was originally activated in the 1970s or 1980s, and probably disbanded after 1991 (it was not listed in a Jane's Intelligence Review survey of September 1997). It was an armoured division during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. It was part of the armoured reserves in the rear of the Kuwaiti theatre, as part of the Jihad Corps alongside the 10th Armoured Division. U.S. Army analysts believed the two divisions retained an average "combat effectiveness percentage" of 59%.[1] Among the division's brigades was the 50th Armoured Brigade, under the command of Colonel Mohammed Ashad.
After the ground offensive began, the U.S. 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment destroyed most of the division, destroying no less than 80 combat vehicles.[2] Other elements of the division were destroyed by British forces during the Battle of Norfolk.[3]
- ^ Robert Scales; Terry Johnson; Thomas Odom (1997). Certain Victory: The United States Army in the Gulf War. London and Washington: Brassey's. p. 207, 209.
- ^ Westfall, p. 88
- ^ Bourque 2001, p. 337.
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