The Battle of Al Hillah was an armed military confrontation between military elements of the United States and Iraq during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Prior to the Iraq War, the ancient city of Al Hillah was home to numerous bases for the Iraqi Medina division of the Iraqi Republican Guard. As a main objective of the invasion of Iraq was to disable the Republican Guard, this made Al Hillah an important target for Coalition forces, as well as the fact that Al Hillah lay in the path of the planned Coalition advance Najaf.[1]
Civilian casualties resulted from heavy barrage by the 2nd Al Medina Armored Division on densely populated urban areas (Coalition forces were attempting to move through the area at the time of the attack)
The Battleedit
Fighting in Al Hillah began on 31 March 2003 when a platoon from the 101st Airborne Division riding exposed on tanks from 2-70 Armor crossed into southern Al Hillah from Al Kifl, at approximately 0600 AST. There, US forces advanced along Highway 8, protected with air cover. At 0630, an American AH-64 came under fire from Iraqi soldiers entrenched in bunkers, and by 0640 American soldiers were engaged in combat with Iraqi infantry. What followed was intensely fierce urban combat as Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah, under fire from Republican Guard soldiers and Iraqi infantry.[2]
After nearly 15 minutes of intense gun battle, US ground units halted near the campus of Babylon Community College, where they exchanged small arms and artillery fire with two entrenched Republican Guard infantry battalions, two artillery batteries, and extensive air defense systems. For five hours, Coalition forces were engaged in close combat fighting, at times so fierce that the American M1 Abrams tanks couldn't aim their machine guns low enough to engage Iraqi troops. As fighting raged, Apache helicopters (most of which were United States Air Force and some of which were British Royal Air Force[3]) conducted numerous attack runs and fire missions on Iraqi defenses until all their weaponry and nearly all their fuel had been expended. 8 Apaches returned to their base damaged, with repair teams reported to have been pulling unexploded RPGs out of the skins of the helicopters. Many pilots had been injured, and one seriously injured pilot later received a Purple Heart for wounds he sustained during the battle.[2]
At 1730 hours AST, US Colonel Joseph Anderson ordered Coalition forces to withdraw. One US soldier had been killed in the battle, but the fighting had cost the Iraqis 1,200 or more soldiers killed or wounded, one Republican Guard infantry battalion, one armored company, two field artillery batteries, and one antiaircraft battery.[2]
Following the withdrawal, Coalition aircraft launched an assault on the remaining defenses in Al Hillah. Numerous cluster bombs were dropped, causing military and civilian casualties. Following the bombing, Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah and captured the city by the end of 1 April, encountering sparse resistance. With Al Hillah captured, Coalition forces were clear to advance towards Najaf.
Aftermathedit
Small pockets of resistance, composed mostly of Iraqi irregulars, continued to hold out in Al Hillah until 11 April, but nearly all Iraqi military resistance in the city had been annihilated and the Republican Guard no longer posed a serious threat to Coalition forces.[2]
^Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq by Mark Urban
April 18, 2024
battle, hillah, 2003, battle, hillah, armed, military, confrontation, between, military, elements, united, states, iraq, during, 2003, invasion, iraq, prior, iraq, ancient, city, hillah, home, numerous, bases, iraqi, medina, division, iraqi, republican, guard,. The Battle of Al Hillah was an armed military confrontation between military elements of the United States and Iraq during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq Prior to the Iraq War the ancient city of Al Hillah was home to numerous bases for the Iraqi Medina division of the Iraqi Republican Guard As a main objective of the invasion of Iraq was to disable the Republican Guard this made Al Hillah an important target for Coalition forces as well as the fact that Al Hillah lay in the path of the planned Coalition advance Najaf 1 Battle of Al Hillah 2003 Part of 2003 Invasion of IraqUS Marines in Al HillahDate31 March 2 April 2003LocationHillah IraqResultU S victory Destruction of the Medina Division Belligerents United States United Kingdom Poland IraqCommanders and leadersJoseph Anderson Brian BurridgeUnknownUnits involved10th Mountain Division 1st Marine Division 101st Airborne Division 502nd Infantry RegimentRoyal Air Force JW GROM2nd Al Medina Armored DivisionStrengthTens of thousands 10 000Casualties and losses1 killedwounded unknown8 attack helicopters damaged1 200 killed amp wounded2 field artillery batteries destroyed1 AA battery destroyed1 armoured company destroyed1 infantry battalion destroyed551 Iraqi civilian casualties 19 killed 515 wounded 17 unspecified Civilian casualties resulted from heavy barrage by the 2nd Al Medina Armored Division on densely populated urban areas Coalition forces were attempting to move through the area at the time of the attack The Battle editFighting in Al Hillah began on 31 March 2003 when a platoon from the 101st Airborne Division riding exposed on tanks from 2 70 Armor crossed into southern Al Hillah from Al Kifl at approximately 0600 AST There US forces advanced along Highway 8 protected with air cover At 0630 an American AH 64 came under fire from Iraqi soldiers entrenched in bunkers and by 0640 American soldiers were engaged in combat with Iraqi infantry What followed was intensely fierce urban combat as Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah under fire from Republican Guard soldiers and Iraqi infantry 2 After nearly 15 minutes of intense gun battle US ground units halted near the campus of Babylon Community College where they exchanged small arms and artillery fire with two entrenched Republican Guard infantry battalions two artillery batteries and extensive air defense systems For five hours Coalition forces were engaged in close combat fighting at times so fierce that the American M1 Abrams tanks couldn t aim their machine guns low enough to engage Iraqi troops As fighting raged Apache helicopters most of which were United States Air Force and some of which were British Royal Air Force 3 conducted numerous attack runs and fire missions on Iraqi defenses until all their weaponry and nearly all their fuel had been expended 8 Apaches returned to their base damaged with repair teams reported to have been pulling unexploded RPGs out of the skins of the helicopters Many pilots had been injured and one seriously injured pilot later received a Purple Heart for wounds he sustained during the battle 2 At 1730 hours AST US Colonel Joseph Anderson ordered Coalition forces to withdraw One US soldier had been killed in the battle but the fighting had cost the Iraqis 1 200 or more soldiers killed or wounded one Republican Guard infantry battalion one armored company two field artillery batteries and one antiaircraft battery 2 Following the withdrawal Coalition aircraft launched an assault on the remaining defenses in Al Hillah Numerous cluster bombs were dropped causing military and civilian casualties Following the bombing Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah and captured the city by the end of 1 April encountering sparse resistance With Al Hillah captured Coalition forces were clear to advance towards Najaf Aftermath editSmall pockets of resistance composed mostly of Iraqi irregulars continued to hold out in Al Hillah until 11 April but nearly all Iraqi military resistance in the city had been annihilated and the Republican Guard no longer posed a serious threat to Coalition forces 2 References edit Hillah U S invasion of Iraq a b c d STRIKE History for 31 March 06 April 2013 PDF lzsally com Task Force Black The Explosive True Story of the SAS and the Secret War in Iraq by Mark Urban Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Battle of Hillah 2003 amp oldid 1213251123, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
