Operation Before the Dawn
| Operation Before the Dawn | |||||||||
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| Part of Iran–Iraq War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Iraq
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 Iran
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Saddam Hussein
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Mohsen Rezaee
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 60,000 soldiers, with armor, aircraft, and artillery |
200,000 soldiers in 7 infantry divisions (including airborne division) 2 armored divisions 2 artillery battalions |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 2,000 killed | 6,000 killed | ||||||||
Strategic stalemate
200,000 soldiers in 7 infantry divisions (including airborne division) 2 armored divisions
Operation Before the Dawn was the first of the three costly human-wave attacks of 1983 in the Amarah area 200 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. It was launched by Iran.
The Iranians originally planned the offensive to mark the fourth anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Objectives were clear: drive enemy forces from Iranian soil, seize Iraqi territory in the Amarah area, and move on to Amarah. Seizure of the city of Amarah would give Iran the upper hand in disrupting troop and supply movements from Baghdad to Basra.
U.S. Intelligence reported that both sides had over 100,000 soldiers poised for battle. The Iranian forces consisted of mostly 'last reserve' Pasdaran and Basij volunteers backed by two divisions of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army. Iraqi forces consisted mostly of conscript infantry backed by Republican Guard tank brigades. In addition, the Iraqis also held three lines of trenches which formed a semicircle around Amarah.
The terrain of the battleground added to Iran's difficulty. The area around Amarah rested in an area of sand hills and marshes of which created an open plain. To this affect, Iraqi trenches were strategically positioned from the sand hills down to the tip of the marshes.
Regardless, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani further boasted:
The people expect this offensive to be the final military operation that will determine the destiny of the region.
...
Wikipedia