Battle of Al Busayyah

Part of the Persian Gulf War

Date	February 26, 1991
Location	Al Busayyah, Iraq
Result	American victory

Belligerents

United States

Iraq

Commanders and leaders

Gen.Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
Gen.Frederick M. Franks, Jr.
Montgomery Meigs

General Ayad Futayyih Al-Rawi

Units involved

1st Armored Division

2nd Brigade

Iraqi Republican Guard Infantry Battalion
Iraqi Commando Battalion
Iraqi T-55 Tank Company

Casualties and losses

None

12 tanks destroyed
2 BRDMs destroyed
1 BMP destroyed
25 vehicles destroyed
16 captured

1st Armored Division

The Battle of Al Busayyah was a tank battle fought in the pre-dawn darkness on February 26, 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, between armored forces of the United States Army and those of the Iraqi Army.

The battle is named after the Iraqi town of Al Busayyah, which sat at a critical crossroads and was an Iraqi Army stronghold. The town consisted of forty to fifty buildings, most located along one main north-south road. It was defended by a battalion-sized Iraqi infantry unit reinforced by T-55 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and elements of an Iraqi commando battalion. The town was heavily fortified with machine gun nests and fighting positions. Twelve Iraqi tanks and twelve other armored vehicles were dug-in deeply at strategic positions in, and around, the town. Trenchlines stretched fifteen hundred meters south of town, radiating out to perimeter strong points.

Charged with taking the town of Al Busayyah was the 2nd Brigade, known as the "Iron Brigade," of the U.S. 1st Armored Division (1AD), part of VII Corps, commanded by General Frederick M. Franks, Jr. The 2nd Brigade's 2-70 Armor, now TF 2-70 or Task Force 2-70, was to move north in formation and seize the town of Al Busayyah with TF 4-70 Armor on its right flank, and then with the rest of the brigade proceed to attack "Position Python", where it would strike Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard north of Kuwait.

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Wikipedia