Battle of Najaf (2004)

Part of the Iraq War

U.S. Army soldier looks towards the An Najaf cemetery in Iraq during the Battle of Najaf

Date	5–27 August 2004
Location	Najaf, Iraq
Result	Mahdi Army forced from Najaf (Negotiated ceasefire)

Belligerents

United States

Iraqi Security Forces

Mahdi Army

Mujahideen

Commanders and leaders

Col. Anthony Haslam

Muqtada al-Sadr

Strength

2,000 U.S.
1,800 Iraqi Security Forces

Estimates range from 14,000 to 15,000

Casualties and losses

13 killed, 100+ wounded, 2 tanks, 4 armored vehicles destroyed (U.S.)
40 killed, 18 captured,
46 wounded (Iraqi Security Forces)

1,594 killed, 261 captured

The Battle of Najaf was fought between United States and Iraqi forces on one side and the Islamist Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr on the other in the Iraqi city of Najaf in August 2004.

On 31 July 2004 the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, under the Polish-led Multinational Division Central-South (MND-CS), assumed operational control of An Najaf and Al-Qadisiyyah provinces from Task Force Dragon, which was composed of elements of the 1st Infantry Division. Task Force Dragon had earlier (June 2004) relieved the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment who had been extended twice in Iraq.

The MEU and the Mahdi Army first exchanged fire on 2 August, when a patrol by Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT) Alpha Wpns Co 1st Battalion 4th Marines (1/4) approached a maternity clinic located directly across the street from the home of Muqtada al-Sadr on the outskirts of the city. The clinic was in an area authorized for U.S. presence under a June cease-fire agreement brokered between coalition forces and Muqtada Sadr by the Governor of Najaf, other local civic leaders, and the Bayt al-Shia (the informal council of senior Shia clerics). The Marines reported over 70 enemy dead after nearly an hour of fighting. The Mahdi Army kept a steady resupply of men and weapons coming out of the Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery. CAAT Alpha faced mortars, RPG's (Rocket Propelled Grenades) and small arms fire with one Marine wounded until running low on ammunition. 1/4's Bravo Co. was sent in on 7-ton trucks to provide covering fire for CAAT Alpha. Both sides withdrew to their respective strongholds soon afterwards.

Major conflict began on 5 August, when the Mahdi Army (MA) attacked an Iraqi Police Station at 1 am. Their first attack was repelled but the MA regrouped and attacked again at 3 am. Soon after, a quick reaction force (QRF) from the MEU was dispatched at the request of the governor of An Najaf. Around 11 am the QRF came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire from the Mahdi Army within the Wadi-us-Salaam, the largest cemetery in the Muslim world approximately 7 miles squared. The cemetery has been layered over the centuries resulting in large underground tombs, tunnels and surface monuments, many reaching two stories tall. The Soldiers of 1/5 Cav fought across this inhospitable terrain and under it in some of the first tunnel fighting seen since Vietnam.

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Wikipedia