Operation Southern Watch

Two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the Texas Air National Guard and New Jersey Air National Guard prepare to depart Prince Sultan Air Base on a patrol as part of Operation Southern Watch in 2000.

Date	27 August 1992 – 19 March 2003
Location	Southern Iraq, below the 32nd and 33rd parallels.
Result	Inconclusive Ended with Invasion of Iraq

Belligerents

United States

United Kingdom

Saudi Arabia

Kuwait

France (until 1998)

Iraq

Commanders and leaders

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush

Saddam Hussein

Strength

5,000

Various Iraqi air defense forces

Casualties and losses

19 American airmen killed and 372 Coalition personnel injured in the Khobar Towers bombing
4 RQ-1 Predator shot down
1 F-16 damaged

1 MiG-25 Foxbat and
1 MiG-23 Flogger shot down
10-15 air defense systems destroyed
175+ civilians killed and 500 others wounded

Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003.

United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of monitoring and controlling the airspace south of the 32nd Parallel (extended to the 33rd Parallel in 1996) in southern and south-central Iraq during the period following the end of the 1991 Gulf War until the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Operation Southern Watch began on 27 August 1992 with the stated purpose of ensuring Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 (UNSCR 688) of 5 April 1991, which demanded that Iraq "immediately end this repression and express the hope in the same context that an open dialogue will take place to ensure that the human and political rights of all Iraqi citizens are respected." Nothing in the resolution spelled out the Iraqi no-fly zones or Operation Southern Watch.

Iraqi bombing and strafing attacks against the Shi’ite Muslims in Southern Iraq during the remainder of 1991 and during 1992 indicated Saddam Hussein chose not to comply with the resolution. Forces from Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France participated in Operation Southern Watch. The commander of JTF-SWA, an aeronautically rated United States Air Force (USAF) Major General, assisted by an aeronautically designated United States Navy (USN) Rear Admiral, reported directly to the Commander, United States Central Command (USCENTCOM).

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