Operation Phantom Phoenix

Operation Phantom Phoenix
Part of the Iraq War
Date 8 January 2008, – 28 July 2008 Location North-central Iraq Result Partial Coalition victory Coalition victory in Diyala and Salah ad-Din provinces Indecisive outcome in Mosul and Kirkuk provinces
Belligerents
United States Iraq Georgia United Kingdom	Iraqi Insurgency Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Commanders and leaders
David Petraeus Gordon Brown Babaker Shawkat Zebari Davit Kezerashvili	Ayyub al-Masri Abdul Basit al-Nissani †
Strength
United States: 24,000 Iraqi Security Forces: 130,000 Awakening Council members: 14,000
Casualties and losses
United States: 59 killed Iraq: 568 killed, 2 missing, 7 captured (Security Forces) 208 killed, 4 captured (Awakening Councils) Georgia: 3 killed United Kingdom: 1 killed Total: 839 KIA, 11 POW, 2 MIA	890 killed, 2,500+ captured

Partial Coalition victory

Operation Phantom Phoenix was a major nationwide offensive launched by the Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I) on 8 January 2008 in an attempt to build on the success of the two previous corps-level operations, Operation Phantom Thunder and Operation Phantom Strike and further reduce violence and secure Iraq's population, particularly in the capital Baghdad. The offensive consisted of a number of joint Coalition and Iraqi Army operations throughout northern Iraq as well as in the southern Baghdad Belts.

The northern operation was designated Operation Iron Harvest. Its objective was to hunt down the remaining 200 Al-Qaeda extremists remaining in the province of Diyala following the end of the previous offensive. The operation also included targeting insurgent elements in Salah ad-Din province and Nineveh province. The southern operation was designated Operation Marne Thunderbolt and targeted insurgent safe havens in the belts to the south-east of Baghdad, particularly the Arab Jabour region.

Additionally, Phantom Phoenix's aims were the remaining car, truck and suicide bomb networks in Baghdad as well as al-Qaeda’s financial network.

According to Lt General Raymond Odierno, the goal of the operation was to provide security for the nine major cities in Iraq, with an emphasis on securing Baghdad. The operation built on the previous two major operations, Operation Phantom Thunder and Operation Phantom Strike, which were launched at the conclusion of the US troop build-up in June 2007, in order to eliminate insurgent safe havens throughout the Baghdad Belts and secure the population of Baghdad.

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