Battle of Basra (2008)

Battle of Basra (2008)
Part of the 2008 Iraq spring fighting (Iraq War)
Location of Basra
Date 25 March – 24 April 2008 (4 weeks and 2 days) Location Basra, Iraq Result Tactically Inconclusive[citation needed] Strategic Iraqi army victory[citation needed] Territorial changes Mahdi Army withdraws from the city
Belligerents
Iraq  United States  United Kingdom  Iraqi Kurdistan[1] Badr Brigades[2]	Mahdi Army[3] Special Groups Fadhila Militia[4] Thar Allah
Commanders and leaders
PM Nouri al-Maliki Lt. Gen. Ali Ghaidan Majid Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Furayji	Muqtada al-Sadr Shiek Ali al-Sauidi[5] Yusuf al-Mosawi (POW)
Units involved
Iraqi Ground Forces 1st Division from Al-Anbar, embedded US Marine MiTT team 1st Brigade 7th Division 26th Brigade from Ramadi, embedded US Army MiTT team 9th Division 36th Brigade (Mechanized)[6] 1st BN/36th BDE (M)IN BMP-1s with one company of T-55 Tanks 35th Brigade (Armored)(Two battalions, reconditioned T-55s & BMP-1s) 4th Division 14th Brigade 14th Division 50th Brigade 51st Brigade 52nd Brigade  Iraqi Air Force 23rd Squadron C-130s 70th Squadron Iraqi Police National Police QRF Battalion embedded National Police Transition Team Hillah SWAT unit Iraqi Special Operations Forces 1st Brigade	Mahdi Army Fadhila Militia Thar Allah
Strength
Iraqi Security Forces 16,000 (Iraqi Police) 14,000 (Iraqi Army)[7] 4 Mi-17 and 2 UH-1 helicopters 2 C-130 cargo aircraft 3 CH2000 reconnaissance aircraft[citation needed]	16,000[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
Losses in personnel: 30 killed (15 soldiers,[8] 15 policemen[9][10]); 400 wounded;[8] 1,000–4,000 defected or captured[11] Losses in equipment: 1 Mi-17 helicopter shot down[12] 1 BMP-1 and 5 Dzik armored vehicles destroyed[13][14][15] 9 armored vehicles captured	210 killed, 600 wounded 155 captured (Iraqi Interior Ministry claim)[16]
Civilian casualties: 50 killed[17][18]

The Battle of Basra began on 25 March 2008, when the Iraqi Army launched an operation (code-named Saulat al-Fursan, meaning Operation Charge of the Knights in Arabic) to drive the Mahdi Army militia out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The operation was the first major operation to be planned and carried out by the Iraqi Army since the invasion of 2003.

Coalition and Iraqi aircraft patrolled the skies above Basra providing intelligence and carrying out air strikes in support of Iraqi forces on the ground. Coalition forces provided embedded military transition teams (MiTTs) in Iraqi Army units and American special forces also conducted joint operations with ISOF units.^[19]

Iraqi forces faced heavy resistance from Mahdi Army militia inside the city and the offensive stalled, requiring American and British air and artillery support, eventually resulting in a stand-off. More than 1,000 casualties resulted in six days of heavy fighting.^[20]

Following a ceasefire negotiated in Iran on 31 March, Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew his fighters from the streets, but had gained a major political victory. However, the Iraqi Army, reinforced with brigades from other parts of Iraq, including the 1st Division from al-Anbar, continued to carry out slower, more deliberate clearing operations in militia strongholds. The Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics Unit, as well as Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF), carried out a number of targeted raids on militia leaders. By 20 April, the Iraqi Army had taken control of the last major district controlled by the Mahdi Army, and by 24 April, Iraqi forces claimed to be in full control of the city centre.^[21][22]