Battle of Khafji

Battle of Khafji
Part of the Gulf War
Map of military operations during the liberation of Khafji[image reference needed]
Date 29 January – 1 February 1991 (3 days) Location Khafji, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia 28°25′30″N 48°30′00″E / 28.425°N 48.500°E / 28.425; 48.500 Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
Coalition  United States  Saudi Arabia  Qatar  Kuwait	Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Khalid bin Sultan Turki Abdulmohsin al-Firmi Sultan Adi al-Mutairi Hamid Matar Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah	Saddam Hussein Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri[1] Salah Aboud Mahmoud
Units involved
2nd SANG Brigade Royal Saudi Marine Battalion Qatar Tank Battalion 1st Marine Division 2nd Light Armored Infantry Battalion, 2nd Marine Division	1st Mechanised Division 3rd Armoured Division 5th Mechanised Division
Casualties and losses
Coalition estimate: 43 killed (11 from friendly fire) 52 wounded 2 captured[2][3] 9–12 armoured vehicles lost 1 AC-130 shot down	Iraqi claims: 71 killed 148 wounded 702 missing 186 armoured vehicles destroyed Saudi Arabian estimate: 60–300 killed 400 captured 90 armoured vehicles destroyed[2][3]

The Battle of Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War. It took place in and around the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji, from 29 January to 1 February 1991.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who had already tried and failed to draw Coalition forces into costly ground engagements by shelling Saudi Arabian positions and oil storage tanks and firing Scud surface-to-surface missiles at Israel, ordered the invasion of Saudi Arabia from southern Kuwait. The 1st and 5th Mechanized Divisions and 3rd Armored Division were ordered to conduct a multi-pronged invasion toward Khafji, engaging Saudi Arabian, Kuwaiti, and U.S. forces along the coastline, with a supporting Iraqi commando force ordered to infiltrate further south by sea and harass the Coalition's rear.^[4]

These three divisions, which had suffered significant losses from attacks by Coalition aircraft in the preceding days, attacked on 29 January. Most of their attacks were repulsed by U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army forces but one of the Iraqi columns occupied Khafji on the night of 29–30 January. From 30 January to 1 February, two Saudi Arabian National Guard battalions and two Qatari tank companies attempted to retake control of the city, aided by Coalition aircraft and U.S. artillery. By 1 February, the city had been recaptured at the cost of 43 Coalition servicemen dead and 52 wounded. Iraqi Army fatalities numbered between 60 and 300, while an estimated 400 were captured as prisoners of war.

Although the invasion of Khafji was initially a propaganda victory for the Ba'athist Iraqi regime, the battle that led to its swift recapture by Coalition forces demonstrated the importance of air support for ground forces.