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Battle of Khafji
Part of the Gulf War
Military operations during liberation of Khafji.
Date January 29 - February 1, 1991 Location Khafji, Saudi Arabia Result Decisive Coalition victory.
Belligerents
Saudi Arabia, United States, Qatar[1]	Iraq
Commanders
Sultan Al-Mutairi [2]	Salah Abud Mahmud [3]
Casualties and losses
36 dead, 32 wounded, 2 POW	2000+, 400 POW[4]

The Battle of Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War. It took place in the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji, from January 29 to February 1, 1991. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar. ... Ras Al Khafji was historically the principle town in the neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Saudi_Arabia. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Qatar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iraq,_1991-2004. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Saudi_Arabia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iraq,_1991-2004. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... Combatants United States Army British Army Iraqi Republican Guard Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf Saddam Hussein Casualties U.S. 12 KIA and FF, 57 wounded 600 killed and wounded The Battle of 73 Easting was a decisive tank battle fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between United States and... The Battle of Al Busayyah was a tank battle fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between armored forces of the United States Army and those of the Iraqi Army. ... Combatants US Army Iraqi Republican Guard Commanders Paul E. Funk Ayad Futayih Al-Rawi Casualties 2 KIAs 12 WIAs 4 Bradleys destroyed 10 Bradleys damaged Unknown number of KIAs and WIAs 6 T-72s tanks destroyed or abandoned 17 APCs destroyed The Battle of Phase Line Bullet was one of... Combatants United States Iraq Commanders Montgomery Meigs Saddam Hussein Strength 1st Armored Division 2nd Brigade of Medina Luminous Division Casualties 1 killed (friendly fire), 30 wounded, 4 tanks damaged 186 tanks destroyed, 127 AFVs destroyed Gulf War Kuwait – Khafji – 73 Easting – Al Busayyah – Phase Line Bullet – Medina Ridge – Wadi Al... Combatants US Army Iraqi Republican Guard Commanders General Norman Schwarzkopf F.General Ayad Al-Rawi Casualties Unknown Unknown Battle of Wadi Al-Batin or Battle of Ruqi Pocket or Operation Red Storm was one of the battles which happeneds before the begining of the Desert Storm operations in February 15... The Battle of Norfolk was a tank battle fought on 27 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between armored forces of the United States Army and those of the Iraqi Republican Guard. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country on the Arabian Peninsula. ... Ras Al Khafji was historically the principle town in the neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar. ...

The battle began when Iraqi troops unexpectedly invaded Khafji. Forces from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, backed by American artillery and air strikes, evicted Iraqi troops and tanks, and freed two trapped U.S. Marine reconnaissance teams. United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ...

Surprise advance into Saudi Arabia

The Iraqi advance caught the U.S.-led Coalition almost completely by surprise, and the initial hours of the battle were marked by confusion and disarray on the Coalition side. Numerous U.S. Marine and Special Forces positions along the Kuwait-Saudi Arabian border were overrun by the Iraqi forces, and the city of Khafji, which had been largely abandoned by the Coalition, fell with little resistance. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... For other uses, see Special forces (disambiguation). ...

By taking Khafji, the Iraqis trapped (but did not capture) two U.S. Marine reconnaissance teams of the U.S. 3rd Marine Regiment inside the town. Corporal Lawrence Lentz led one team with Corporal Chuck Ingraham leading the other. The presence of the Marine teams complicated the recapture effort, although the two teams reported on Iraqi activities inside the town and directed numerous effective artillery and airstrikes on the occupying Iraqis. After an intense day-long counter-attack, the city was retaken by Saudi and Qatari troops, coordinated by U.S. Special Forces liaison teams. The 3rd Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. ... This article is about the military rank. ... Airstrike in Kosovo War An airstrike is a military strike by air forces on either a suspected or a confirmed enemy ground position, which depending on the selected tactics may or may not be followed up by artillery, armor, or infantry units. ...

The ill-fated Iraqi foray into Khafji is believed to have been ordered to forestall the coming Coalition attack on Iraqi positions in Kuwait and to test Coalition strength. Many observers saw the Iraqi Army, and especially its Republican Guard units, as the best military force in the Gulf region, after its performance in the Iran-Iraq War and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Observers also had doubts about how the U.S. military would perform, after not having been seriously tested since the Vietnam War almost 20 years earlier. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein talks with elite Republican Guard officers in Baghdad on March 1, 2003. ... Belligerents Iran Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Iraq Peoples Mujahedin of Iran Soldiers and volunteers from different Arab countries. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

The success of the Marines at Khafji was seen as proof that the Iraqi war machine had been vastly overrated, and it led Coalition commanders to change their offensive plans to allow for large-scale prisoner collection. As one U.S. veteran of the battle put it, "Get in the first shot at [an Iraqi soldier] and the rest will run away." The battle was the deadliest and most intense firefight that U.S. forces had seen since the Vietnam War. Some Gulf War veterans point to Khafji as an engagement that refutes the commonly-held notion that the war was a push-button, video game-like enterprise. It was the largest military engagement on Saudi Arabian soil since that nation gained independence. Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Former crewmembers of the battleship Missouri pose for photos shortly after the Anniversary of the End of World War II ceremony, held aboard the famous ship. ... Computer and video games redirects here. ...

U.S. friendly fire

The battle of Khafji saw the worst cases of friendly fire between U.S. forces since Vietnam. A total of 11 U.S. Marines were killed in two separate incidents on January 31, 1991 at a position known as Observation Post 4, some thirty miles west of Khafji. Both involved Light armored vehicles, one was destroyed by friendly surface fire killing 4, the other by an errant AGM-65 Maverick missile launched by an A-10, killing seven. A 12th Marine was killed on February 2nd when an A-10 struck his vehicle.^[4] For other uses, see Friendly Fire (disambiguation). ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar. ... LAV-25, also known as Bison, is said to be an 8 wheeled vehicle that has been used to destroy non-biological land-mines while safely carring 6 people. ... The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground tactical missile (AGM) designed for close air support. ... The A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic for the United States Air Force to provide close air support (CAS) of ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets, also providing a limited air interdiction role. ...

The battle was also notable for the capture of Melissa Rathbun-Nealy, the first female U.S. prisoner of war since the Second World War. She was captured in a manner virtually identical to Private Jessica Lynch twelve years later at An Nasiriyah, Iraq. Rathbun-Nealy was released on March 4, 1991 after spending over a month in a Baghdad prison. Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Jessica Dawn Lynch (b. ... Nāşirīyah (also transliterated as Nassiriya or Nasiriya; in Arabic ناصرية, al-Nasiriyah or an-Nasiriyah) is a city in Iraq. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...

Criticism of U.S. media policy

Some media critics (including Chris Hedges, then of the New York Times) complained that the battle of Khafji demonstrated the flawed U.S. press pooling policy of the time and that it prevented the full story of the battle from being widely reported upon. The only published photos of the battle were taken by two French journalists that defied U.S. press controls and entered the battlefield without official authorization. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Estimated battle losses

• Iraq: more than 2,000 dead, more than 400 taken prisoner^[4]
• United States: 26 dead, two taken prisoner
• Saudi Arabia and Qatar: 10 dead, 32 wounded

References

Sources

• Hedges, Chris. War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. New York : Anchor Books, 2003. ISBN 1-4000-3463-9.
• Morris, David J. Storm on the Horizon: Khafji-The Battle that Changed the Course of the Gulf War. New York : Free Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-3557-6.
• Pollack, Kenneth M. Arabs at war : military effectiveness, 1948-1991. Lincoln, NE : University of Nebraska Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8032-8783-6.
• http://www.afa.org