The Second Battle of Fallujah happened between November 7 and December 23, 2004, as a part of the Iraq Struggle. It’s thought-about the heaviest city fight involving American troops because the Battle of Huế in 1968. Fought solely towards insurgents, it’s additionally thought-about the bloodiest American engagement to have occurred through the battle.
Impetus for the First Battle of Fallujah
Earlier than the Second Battle of Fallujah got here the primary, provoked by insurgents who’d captured and killed 4 personal navy contractors from Blackwater. Their our bodies have been burned and hung from a bridge within the metropolis, in what the insurgents noticed as an act of superiority. On the American facet, some likened the incident to the Battle of Mogadishu through the Somali Civil Struggle.
American political leaders knew a major navy response was required and thus ordered the first Marine Division to retake Fallujah. The battle commenced on April 28, 2004, underneath the codename Operation Vigilant Resolve, and resulted in an settlement that noticed management of town positioned within the arms of a locally-run Iraqi safety pressure.
Preparations for the Second Battle of Fallujah
Over time, the variety of insurgents in Fallujah grew, regardless of efforts by the safety pressure. By September 24, 2004, the quantity had risen so excessive {that a} senior US official launched a assertion, saying “the best precedence” was catching Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the person mentioned to be in charge of town.
Preparations started that November. The brand new battle plan, codenamed Operation Al-Fajr and Operation Fury, was supported by a coalition of round 13,500 servicemen from america, Britain and Iraq. The US contingent consisted of 6,500 Marines, 1,500 Army troopers and a pair of,500 Navy sailors, whereas the British equipped members of the Particular Air Service.
Previous to the assault, Iraqi and US troops arrange checkpoints across the metropolis to forestall anybody from fleeing or coming into. Navy SEAL and Marine reconnaissance snipers marked targets alongside town’s perimeter, and a followup diversion was created previous to the full-scale assault.
Diversion earlier than the full-scale assault
The thirty sixth Iraqi Commando Battalion, together with US Army Special Forces advisers, SEAL Sniper Process Parts and the US Marine Corps Scout Platoon, engaged in fight with the enemy alongside the peninsula, with intense shelling and air strikes carried out throughout town. From there, they captured Fallujah Normal Hospital and the ING constructing, in addition to villages reverse the Euphrates.
The forces partaking within the diversion gained management of those areas reasonably swiftly. As such, they have been in a position to shift westward and seize Jurf Kas Sukr Bridge. Sadly, two Marines died when their bulldozer fell into the river. Forty-two insurgents perished throughout this section of the combating.
The Second Battle of Fallajuh begins with main assaults
The most important assault through the Second Battle of Fallujah started north of town, after US Navy Seabees disabled two electrical substations. Following this, the Marine Corps’ Regimental Fight Groups 1 (RCT-1) and seven (RCT-7) launched their assault.
The groups have been joined by 2nd Battalion, seventh Cavalry Regiment and Process Pressure 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), in addition to a second US Army heavy battalion mechanized unit. The US Air Pressure offered close-air assist, deploying McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagles, Normal Dynamics F-16 Preventing Falcons, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses and Lockheed AC-130 gunships to assist floor troops infiltrate town.
Clearing out the insurgents
The true combating through the Second Battle of Fallujah started at daybreak of November 8, after six US and Iraqi battalions moved into town. They captured the prepare station and transformed it into the principle staging space. They then traveled from constructing to constructing to find and defeat the insurgents.
“There are such a lot of nice tales from our accounts going constructing to constructing,” Maj. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, commander of the first Marine Division, later instructed The Washington Publish. “Going constructing to constructing is so robust on infantry. Squads have been going one block at a time, time and again, and simply clearing these buildings.”
The Marines then pushed into Fallujah’s Hay Naib al-Dubat and Al-Naziza districts, and the Seabees cleared particles on the streets utilizing armored bulldozers. By the night time of November 9, the Individuals had made it to Freeway 10, within the middle of town.
Although the battle was gained, pockets of insurgents nonetheless attacked
Preventing through the Second Battle of Fallujah had just about come to an finish by November 13, 2004. Nonetheless, there have been cases of remoted resistance by insurgents towards the American forces within the weeks main as much as December 23. By January 2005, items started to depart town, permitting civilians to return to the now-heavily broken metropolis.
The battle was the bloodiest American-involved engagement of not simply the Iraq Struggle, however since Vietnam. In Fallujah, 60 of the 200 famed mosques have been destroyed, with many falling sufferer to coalition fireplace for being weapons caches for the insurgents. Casualties for the Individuals totalled 95, with an extra 560 wounded. Nonetheless, of the estimated 4,000 insurgents residing there previous to the battle, 2,000 are believed to have been killed, with an extra 1,200 captured.
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A variety of decorations have been offered to these concerned within the combating. Workers Sgt. David Bellavia of Army Process Pressure 2-2 Infantry was the only real recipient of the Medal of Honor, whereas three teams have been awarded the Presidential Unit Quotation. 9 Marines have been awarded the Navy Cross, with one, Cpl. Dominic Esquibel, refusing it for “private causes.”
