Battle of Basra (2008) 2008
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 25 March 2008 – 31 March 2008 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 2008 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Iraq | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Iraq War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ali Ghaidan Majid, Badr Organization, Iraqi Army, Islamic Virtue Party, Mahdi Army, Mohan al-Furayji, Muqtada al-Sadr, Nouri al-Maliki, Special Group, United Kingdom, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 30.5000, 47.8000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Basra began on 25 March 2008, when the Iraqi Army launched an operation (code-named Saulat al-Fursan, meaning Operation Charge of the Knights in Arabic) to drive the Mahdi Army militia out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The operation was the first major operation to be planned and carried out by the Iraqi Army since the invasion of 2003.
Coalition and Iraqi aircraft patrolled the skies above Basra providing intelligence and carrying out air strikes in support of Iraqi forces on the ground. Coalition forces provided embedded military transition teams (MiTTs) in Iraqi Army units and American special forces also conducted joint operations with ISOF units.
Iraqi forces faced heavy resistance from Mahdi Army militia inside the city and the offensive stalled, requiring American and British air and artillery support, eventually resulting in a stand-off. More than 1,000 casualties resulted in six days of heavy fighting.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Basra (2008) (revision 1380777478), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Basra 1987 · 0 km
- Battle of Basra (2003) 2003 · 0 km
- Siege of Basra (2007) 2007 · 2 km
- Battle of the Camel 656 · 2 km
- Battle of Shaiba 1915 · 19 km
- Battle of Basra (1914) 1914 · 23 km
Other battles of the Iraq War
- Second Battle of Fallujah 2004
- Siege of Sadr City 2004
- Battle of Tal Afar (2005) 2005
- Battle of Al Rumaythah 2006
- Battle of Ramadi (2006) 2006
- Battle of the Palm Grove 2010
All 12 battles of the Iraq War →
Browse more: battles in Iraq · Asia · Post-1945 battles