Battle of Haifa Street

The Battle of Haifa Street
Part of the Iraq War
A U.S. sniper takes up a position during the fighting
Date 6 January - January 9, 2007 (3 days) Location Baghdad, Iraq Result First Phase Insurgents Victory Second Phase US Victory
Belligerents
United States  Iraq	Iraqi insurgency Islamic State of Iraq
Strength
500 Iraqi soldiers 400 U.S. soldiers	unknown
Casualties and losses
20 killed (Iraq) 1 killed (United States)	133 killed 35 captured

First Phase
Insurgents Victory

Second Phase

Iraqi insurgency

The Battle of Haifa Street was a battle fought during January 2007 for the control of Haifa Street, a two-mile-long street in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, pitting American and Iraqi Army forces against various Sunni insurgent forces between January 6 and January 9, 2007 (phase one), and then two weeks later on January 24 when US forces launched a second attempt to clear Haifa Street of insurgents once and for all. This battle was the precursor for clearing operations that would set the conditions for "the surge" which ultimately neutralized insurgent groups in this part of Baghdad during the spring and summer of 2007.

Haifa Street runs through a majority-Sunni area, although there is an area of Shi'ite-dominated neighborhoods to the west, making the Haifa Street area a sectarian fault line between Shi'ite and Sunni neighborhoods. As a result, brutal killings by both sides drove the residents of the high-rise buildings out of the area, enabling insurgents to take over abandoned apartments.

In January 2007, the commander of Multi National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I), General Odierno, ordered a full-scale offensive to dislodge al Qaida from what one US commander called "the most dangerous street in Iraq".

On January 6, 2007, Iraqi soldiers on patrol along Haifa Street discovered a fake checkpoint manned by Sunni insurgents. A gun battle followed in which Iraqi forces killed 30 insurgents. That night in retaliation, insurgents dumped the bodies of 27 executed Shi'ites. The next day, insurgent snipers killed 2 Iraqi security guards near a neighborhood mosque. On January 8, Iraqi forces attempted to remove insurgent forces from Haifa Street, but the attack was repulsed and 2 Iraqi soldiers were killed. US forces were then called in to help clear out the street.

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Wikipedia