Battle of Najaf
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| Battle of Najaf | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Post-invasion Iraq | |||||||||
 U.S. soldier looks towards the An Najaf cemetery in Iraq during the Battle of Najaf |
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| Combatants | |||||||||
| United States Iraq |
al-Mahdi Army | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| unknown | Muqtada al-Sadr | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| unknown | 2,000+ | ||||||||
| Casualties | |||||||||
| 13 KIA, over 100 WIA (U.S.) 40 KIA, 46 WIA (Iraqi Security Forces) |
159 KIA, 261 captured | ||||||||
| Iraq War |
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| Phases Invasion – Post-invasion (Insurgency – Sectarian War) Engagements |
The Battle of Najaf was a battle that was fought between U.S. and Iraqi forces, and the Islamist al-Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr in the Iraqi city of Najaf in August 2004. The battle began on August 5, 2004 when U.S. forces, responding to a request from the Najaf governor's office, began fighting alongside the Iraqi forces at 11 am. A U.S. helicopter carrying a wounded American service member was shot down by small-arms fire on the second day of the fighting, two more U.S. military personnel were injured. Heavy street battles were fought between the Mahdy Army and U.S. and Iraqi forces. During the fighting half a dozen U.S. Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles were damaged or destroyed by insurgent RPG fire in the narrow streets. In the beginning most of the fighting took place in the center of the city and then moved to the cemetery, the Wādī as-Salām, the largest cemetery in the Muslim world. After several days the fighting shifted again, this time to the Imām Alī Mosque, one of the holiest sites for Muslims, particularly Shiites. All remnants of the Mahdy Army withdraw to the shrine and took refuge there. U.S. Marines encircled the shrine and began a siege. The fighting damaged two of the minarets of the mosque in which al-Sadr's forces have taken refuge. On August 23, at least 15 explosions, many sounding like artillery shells, rocked the area, as shrapnel fell in the courtyard of the gold-domed mosque and gunfire echoed through the alleyways. The fighting was eventually ended by a peace agreement; although the neighboring buildings suffered considerable damage, the mosque itself suffered only superficial damage from stray bullets and shrapnel. The battle ended on August 27, 2004 with a ceasefire. Under the rules of the ceasefire both U.S. forces and al-Mahdi Army withdrew from the city. Mahdi army fighters surrendered their weapons before leaving the city and none of them were detained. After that the Iraqi police took control of the security in the city. During the battle there were also heavy street battles in Sadr City in Baghdad. The ceasefire didn't affect the situation there and the fighting continued until the end of September. A large number of insurgents who fought in the Najaf battle went to Sadr City to help the al-Mahdi Army in their guerrilla activities against U.S and Iraqi forces. A final agreement between the U.S. and Muqtada al-Sadr was found by the end of September and the fighting ceased in early October.
[edit] External links
- Iraqi, U.S. forces battle al-Sadr's militia CNN, Aug 5, 2004
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