25+ 9-12 Date 20 January 2007 | Total 85 killed3 wounded none | |
Result Decisive tactical insurgent victory Similar Battle of Al Kut, Operation Augurs of Prosperity, Battle of Samawah, Battle of Amarah, Battle of the Karbala Gap | ||
The Karbala provincial headquarters raid was an infiltration attack carried out on January 20, 2007 by insurgent commandos, with possible Iranian involvement, on the American contingent of the Joint Security Station located within the Iraqi Police headquarters. The assault, which left five American soldiers dead and three wounded, has been called the "boldest and most sophisticated attack in four years of warfare" and is furthermore notable for being one of the few instances when militants have actually managed to capture U.S. soldiers.
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Background
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Karbala province has not seen the same intensity of violence that has wracked other areas of Iraq such as Baghdad and Al Anbar province. Although Karbala has been the site of many attacks, it has largely been free of the spectacular bombings that regularly take place in Baghdad or the heavy urban warfare seen in Fallujah, Mosul, Najaf, Ramadi, and elsewhere. There have been two notable exceptions to this trend: the March 2004 Ashura massacre and the uprising of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army across southern Iraq the following month. Prior to the 20 January raid, only 33 Coalition soldiers had been killed in Karbala province, constituting just over 1% of total coalition fatalities in Iraq.
The raid
The attack was perpetrated by "nine to 12 militants posing as an American security team ... [who] traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles — the type used by U.S. government convoys — had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English. This was denied by the surviving soldiers. According to one Iraqi official, the militant team was led by a blond-haired man. The attack occurred as the U.S. military continued preparations to leave. About 30 U.S. troops were inside the compound at the time.
After being waved through the last of three checkpoints manned by Iraqi security forces at around 17:45, the militants parked their (at least) five SUVs near the city's Provisional Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) main building. The attackers' convoy divided upon arrival, with some vehicles parking at the back of the main building others parking in front. The commandos first used homemade explosive to burn the two Security Vehicles outside. Then they entered the building using fragmentation grenades in an attempt to isolate the two officers. They then stormed into a room the Americans used as a barracks room, attacking with grenades and small arms fire. Once the Soldiers in the room were isolated they proceeded to capture two U.S. soldiers, 1LT Jacob Noel Fritz and CPT Brian Scott Freeman. They pulled two more soldiers, PFC Shawn Patrick Falter and SPC Jonathan Bryan Chism out of an armored humvee at the entrance. One soldier, PVT Jonathon Miles Millican died and three were wounded when a grenade thrown by insurgents exploded in the barracks room on the first floor of the building. Three U.S. humvees were damaged by separate explosions in the raid. No Iraqi police or soldiers were injured in the raid, as the insurgents specifically targeted the American soldiers in the compound.
At approximately 18:00, the insurgents broke off the attack and left the compound with their prisoners, heading east toward neighbouring Babil province. Shortly after crossing the Euphrates River, the militants, who were then being followed by American attack helicopters, shot their four captives and abandoned five vehicles along with uniforms, equipment, and a rifle. Three soldiers were found later by Iraqi police with gunshot wounds to their chests near Bu-Alwan, a village close to Mahawil. Three were already dead (two handcuffed together in the back of one of the SUVs and the other on the ground) and the fourth showed up at nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. On the day of the attack, the U.S. military reported only that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack." The full details of the attack, including the militants' penetration of the PJCC compound and the capture of four of the five soldiers, were not released until a week later.
Four individuals suspected of participating in the raid were detained on January 22 by American troops and Iraqi security forces.
The mastermind behind the attack, Azhar al-Dulaimi, was killed on May 18 by U.S. forces.
Suspected Iranian involvement
According to two unnamed U.S. officials, the Pentagon is examining the possibility that the raid was supported or conducted by Iranians. In a speech on 31 January 2007, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stated that Iran was supporting attacks against Coalition forces in Iraq and some Iraqis suspect that the raid may have been perpetrated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps's Qods Force in retaliation for the detention of 5 Iranian officials by U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on 11 January.
In response to such speculations, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the Iranian ambassador to Iraq, "ridiculed evidence the U.S. military claimed to have proving Iranian involvement in planning attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces."
Journalist Bill Roggio has suggested that the attackers may have intended to transfer the captured Americans over the border to Iran.
On July 2, 2007, the U.S. military said that information from captured Hezbollah fighter Ali Moussa Dakdouk established a link between Quds Force and the Karbala raid. Dakdouk worked as a liaison between Quds force and the Shia group that carried out the raid. According to the United States, Dakdouk said that the Shia group "could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds force."
Other incidents
20 January 2007 was the third-deadliest day of the Iraq War for U.S. troops, with 20 other American soldiers killed throughout Iraq, including 12 in a helicopter crash caused by hostile ground fire north of Baghdad in Diyala Governorate.