Karbala provincial headquarters raid

Karbala provincial headquarters raid
	Part of the Iraq War
Date	January 20, 2007
Location	Provincial Headquarters of Karbala, Iraq
Result	Tactical Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq victory U.S. base successfully infiltrated by the Khazali Special Groups Network cell led by Azhar Al Dulaimi's special cell; Two U.S. officers (in addition to other military personnel) taken prisoner, later executed;
Belligerents
United States	Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Commanders and leaders
Brian Freeman ; Jacob Fritz	Azhar al-Dulaimi
Strength
Nearly 60 U.S. soldiers; Unknown number of Iraqi police and military personnel	9–12 commandos
Casualties and losses
5 killed; 3 wounded ; 4 captured (later executed)	None

The Karbala provincial headquarters raid was a special operation^[3] carried out on January 20, 2007, by the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq against the U.S. contingent of the Joint Security Station, located within the Iraqi Police headquarters. The assault, which left five U.S. soldiers dead and three wounded, has been called the "boldest and most sophisticated attack in four years of warfare" and is furthermore notable for being one of the few instances when any sort of militants or insurgents have actually managed to capture U.S. soldiers^[4]^[5]^[6] since the Vietnam War.

^ ^a ^b ^c Crist, David, The Twilight War: Conflict with Iran, Penguin Press, New York, 2012, p. 529
^ Cite error: The named reference CNN-01-23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "BBC Two - Shadow Commander: Iran's Military Mastermind".
^ Hurst, Steven R.; Qassim Abdul-Zahra (2007-01-26). "4 Troops Abducted, Killed in Iraq Attack". ABC News. AP. Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
^ Bill Roggio (2007-01-26). "The Karbala attack and the IRGC". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2011-11-09. On January 20th, a team of twelve men disguised as U.S. soldiers entered the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, where U.S. soldiers preparing to leave the following morning at 0500hrs closing the JCC for good, attacked and killed five soldiers, and wounded another three. The initial reports indicated the five were killed in the Karbala JCC, however the U.S. military has reported that four of those killed were actually removed from the center, handcuffed, and murdered.
^ Bill Roggio (2010-09-10). "Iranian-backed Shia terror group kidnaps US civilian in Baghdad". Long War Journal. Retrieved 2011-11-09. The attack on the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center was a complex, sophisticated operation. The assault team, led by tactical commander Azhar al Dulaimi, was trained in a mock-up of the center that was built in Iran. The unit had excellent intelligence and received equipment that made them appear to be US soldiers. Some of the members of the assault team are said to have spoken English. This was denied by the Soldiers stationed there.

[Crist,_David_2012,_p._529-1] Crist, David, The Twilight War: Conflict with Iran, Penguin Press, New York, 2012, p. 529

[CNN-01-23-2] Cite error: The named reference CNN-01-23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] "BBC Two - Shadow Commander: Iran's Military Mastermind".

[4] Hurst, Steven R.; Qassim Abdul-Zahra (2007-01-26). "4 Troops Abducted, Killed in Iraq Attack". ABC News. AP. Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-27.

[LongWarJournal2007-01-26-5] Bill Roggio (2007-01-26). "The Karbala attack and the IRGC". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2011-11-09. On January 20th, a team of twelve men disguised as U.S. soldiers entered the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, where U.S. soldiers preparing to leave the following morning at 0500hrs closing the JCC for good, attacked and killed five soldiers, and wounded another three. The initial reports indicated the five were killed in the Karbala JCC, however the U.S. military has reported that four of those killed were actually removed from the center, handcuffed, and murdered.

[LongWarJournal2010-09-10-6] Bill Roggio (2010-09-10). "Iranian-backed Shia terror group kidnaps US civilian in Baghdad". Long War Journal. Retrieved 2011-11-09. The attack on the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center was a complex, sophisticated operation. The assault team, led by tactical commander Azhar al Dulaimi, was trained in a mock-up of the center that was built in Iran. The unit had excellent intelligence and received equipment that made them appear to be US soldiers. Some of the members of the assault team are said to have spoken English. This was denied by the Soldiers stationed there.

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