The Battle of Najaf took place on 28 January 2007 at Zarqa (alt. Zarga) near Najaf, Iraq, between Iraqi Security Forces (later assisted by U.S. and UK forces) and fighters, initially thought to be Iraqi insurgents but later reported to be members of the Shia Islam cult Soldiers of Heaven, who had joined a gathering of worshippers - or, by other accounts, a conflict, originally between an Iraqi government forces checkpoint and 200 armed pilgrims, which then expanded to include local residents, the Soldiers of Heaven group, and UK and U.S. forces. For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... The Iraqi insurgency denotes groups using armed resistance against the US-led Coalition occupation of Iraq. ... is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Najaf province, or An Najaf province, is a province in the nation of Iraq. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iraq. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_jihad. ... The Soldiers of Heaven or Jund al-Samaa (Arabic: جند السماء) is an armed Iraqi Shia religious group, that is probably considered heretical by most Shias. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim. ... Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni or Ahmed bin al-Hassan al-Basri is an Iraqi Shia cult leader who lived near Najaf, Iraq. ... The Boeing IDS AH-64 Apache is the US Armys principal attack helicopter, the successor to the AH-1 Cobra. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... This article is about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... The post-invasion period in Iraq followed the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a multinational coalition led by the United States, which overthrew the Baath Party government of Saddam Hussein. ... The Iraqi insurgency denotes groups using armed resistance against the US-led Coalition occupation of Iraq. ... Belligerents Sunni factions: Baathists Saddamists 1920 Revolution Brigade Nationalists Sunni tribes Sunni Islamists: Islamic State of Iraq al-Qaeda in Iraq Other Sunni groups Shia factions:Mahdi Army Badr Corps Rogue elements among the Iraqi security forces Shia tribes Other militias Public security: New Iraqi Army Iraqi security forces... // This is a list of Military operations of the Multinational Force Iraq in chronological order. ... Car bombings are common in Iraq since the US-led invasion After the 2003 invasion and the beginning of the Iraqi insurgency, insurgents and terrorists soon began adopting terror tactics. ... is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... For other uses, see Najaf (disambiguation). ... Iraqi army soldiers from 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Division stand outside an Iraqi army compound in Buhriz, Iraq, Jan. ... The United States Armed Forces are the military services of the United States. ... The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. ... The Iraqi insurgency denotes groups using armed resistance against the US-led Coalition occupation of Iraq. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Soldiers of Heaven or Jund al-Samaa (Arabic: جند السماء) is an armed Iraqi Shia religious group, that is probably considered heretical by most Shias. ...

Iraqi official account

In the lead-up to the Day of Ashura, which involves large numbers of pilgrims travelling, some to Najaf, for Shiite festivals, the Iraqi officials were said to discovered a plot to assassinate the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and other Shia religious leaders by the insurgents. Alleged plans called for the insurgents to disguise themselves as pilgrims and suddenly open fire, in attempts to assassinate as many leading Shiite clerics as possible and cause overall disruption of the holiday. Violent attacks have occurred in Najaf during previous Ashura festivals (see Ashura massacre). The Day of Aashurah, sometimes spelled ‘Ashurah or Aashoorah, falls on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar. ... For other uses, see Najaf (disambiguation). ... Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Husaini al-Sistani Arabic: السيد علي الحسيني السيستاني, Persian: سید علی حسینی سیستانی;. Born approximately August 4, 1930) is an Iranian Grand Ayatollah, a Shia marja . ... The Ashura massacre of March 2, 2004 in Iraq was a series of planned terrorist explosions that killed 170 and injured 500 Iraqi Shias Muslims commemorating the Ashura festival. ...

The initial raid by the Iraqi security forces against suspected insurgent hideout turned into heavy fighting, with the Iraqi Army almost being overwhelmed. The government forces began to retreat but were soon surrounded and pinned down. During the hours-long battle, rebel fighters captured one wounded Iraqi soldier; they treated him at the compound and sent him back to his comrades with a message saying "the imam is coming back." At one point the Iraqi forces called on the radio to say that they were running low on ammunition.^{[citation needed]} The fighting became so intense that support from U.S. and British attack helicopters and F-16 fighter jets^[2] was called in. The airstrikes helped break the stalemate, but not before one American AH-64 attack helicopter was shot down, killing two U.S. soldiers. However, the Iraqi Army was still unable to advance, and they called in support from both an elite Iraqi unit known as the Scorpion Brigade, which is based to the north in Hilla, and American ground troops. Around noon, elements of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, part of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division were dispatched from near Baghdad. The Iraqi Regular Army is a component of the Iraqi Security Forces tasked with assuming responsibility for all Iraqi land-based military operations following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. ... In military science, a compound is a type of fortification made up of walls surrounding several buildings in the center of a large piece of land. ... It has been suggested that Mahdi be merged into this article or section. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... A Russian Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter. ... The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American multirole jet fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force. ... 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 Boeing IDS AH-64 Apache is the US Armys principal attack helicopter, the successor to the AH-1 Cobra. ... For other uses, see Elite (disambiguation). ... Al Hillah is a city in central Iraq on the river Euphrates, 100km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, with an estimated population of 364,700 in 1998. ... For other uses, see Stryker (disambiguation). ... A military division: Infantry Australian 2nd Division British 2nd Division (World War I) British 2nd Infantry Division Canadian 2nd Infantry Division Soviet 2nd Rifle Division US 2nd Infantry Division Airborne German 2nd Parachute Division Cavalry British 2nd Mounted Division US 2nd Cavalry Division Armour US 2nd Armored Division This is... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...

Government soldiers swept the area during the whole night of January 28-29, but some of the gunmen managed to break out toward Karbala. On February 1, the city of Najaf was cordoned off, and subsequently Iraqi Government and U.S. forces appeared to be involved in heavy fighting, including helicopter gunship support. The opposing forces seem to be militants inside the city limits.^{[citation needed]} This seemingly contradicted initial assessment that the hostile group was effectively destroyed after the battle of January 28, but independently verified information was not available at the time. // Karbala (Arabic: ; BGN: Al-Karbalā’; also spelled Karbala al-Muqaddasah) is a city in Iraq, located about 100 km southwest of Baghdad at 32. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Controversy

The other account of the incident was presented in the newspaper articles by Patrick Cockburn^[3] and, working together, Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily.^[4] According to this version, at around 6 a.m. Hajj Sa'ad Sa'ad Nayif al-Hatemi, chief of the Hawatim Shia tribe, led a group of armed pilgrims from that tribe to a security checkpoint. Security forces killed al-Hatemi, his wife, and his driver. The pilgrims, who had walked alongside the car to the checkpoint, then attacked the security forces in retaliation. A local tribe, the Khaza'il, tried to stop the fighting but were shot at in the crossfire. Iraqi troops at the checkpoint reported al-Qaeda forces were attacking and more security forces arrived in response, surrounding the Hawatim. The Hawatim tried unsuccessfully to stop the fighting at this stage. Firing continued and a U.S. helicopter was shot down. U.S. aircraft bombarded the area until early the next morning. 120 Hawatim and local residents were killed. The group lead by Ahmad al-Hassani was based in the local area of the fighting and was drawn into it. They, the Hawatim and the Khaza'il, were are opposed to groups that make "the core of the Baghdad government". The presence of Ahmad al-Hassani's group provided justification for a massacre of opponents to important groups in the Iraqi government. Patrick Cockburn () is an Irish journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent since 1979 for the Financial Times and the Independent . ... Dahr Jamail (b. ... Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, the foundation or the base) is the name given to a worldwide network of militant Islamist organizations under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. ...

A radical Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mahmud al-Hasani al-Sarkhi, was reported on the 6 February 2007, to be calling for an independent inquiry into what "many in Iraq now regard as a 'massacre' in which scores of women and children were killed." The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, accused the government of concealing the truth about the event.^[5] Look up massacre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mahmud Dawud al-Mashhadani is an Iraqi politician and the President (the title is most often translated into English, incorrectly, as Speaker) of the Iraqi National Assembly. ...

Aftermath

At least six Iraqi policemen and five Iraqi soldiers had died in the fighting along with the two American soldiers. Another 15 policemen and 15 soldiers were wounded; among them was the Najaf's police chief. Another Iraqi military official put the death toll for Iraqi security forces at 25.^[6] U.S. and Iraqi troops killed 263 and captured 406 rebels in the fierce fighting around the city.^[7] The majority of the fighters were Iraqi, but Brigadier General Fadhil Barwari stated that the group included 30 Afghans and Saudis and one Sudanese fighter. Shi'ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunnis and Shi'ites loyal to a heretical cleric called Ahmed Ismail Katte,^[8] and linked to the militant group Ansar al-Sunna.^[9] The Iraqi army said it captured some 500 automatic rifles in addition to mortars, at least 40 machine guns, and even some Russian-made Katyusha rockets and anti-aircraft missiles. Chief of Police in United States usage is the title typically given to the head of a police department. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ... Ethnic groups of Afghanistan (1980 map)  42% Pashtun  27% Tajik  9% Hazara  9% Uzbek         3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        Languages of Afghanistan (1980 map)  50% Dari dialect of Persian  35% Pashto  8% Uzbek  3% Turkmen  2% Baloch        The Demographics of Afghanistan are ethnically and linguistically mixed. ... The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country on the Arabian Peninsula. ... The Republic of the Sudan, or Republic of Sudan (in recent years the definite article has increasingly been dropped in common usage) is the largest country in Africa, situated in the northeast part of the continent. ... Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. ... For other uses, see Heresy (disambiguation). ... Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna or Group of the Protectors of the Sunna (faith) (Arabic: جماعة أنصار السنه ) , (formerly Jaish Ansar al-Sunna) is an Islamist militant group in Iraq that fought the US-led occupation and US-backed interim government of Iyad Allawi, and continues to fight the occupation and the new US... Heckler & Koch G41 automatic rifles are legal in asutralia an america with lisence An automatic rifle is a term generally used to describe a self-loading rifle capable of firing either semi or fully-automatically from a magazine or belt of ammunition. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery built and fielded by the Soviet Union beginning in the Second World War. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...

Information recovered from dead and captured fighters indicate they belonged to a renegade Shi'ite group which called themselves the Soldiers of Heaven (Jund al-Samaa) and have been described as an apocalyptic religious cult.^[2] The cult leader, Ahmed Ismail Katte, who claimed to be the Mahdi, a messiah - in Shia Islam.^[10] Iraqi officials said that the militant leader, Ahmed Ismail Katte, was a Sunni from a Sunni stronghold of Zubayr near Basra in the south. He represented himself as Ahmed Hassan al-Yamani (a Shia name) to win over support for his cause. He was identified as a deputy to the cult leader Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim, who was believed to be a former security officer from the old regime. Their actual names and identities were also questioned.^[11] The U.S. military has referred to them only as gunmen, not insurgents or terrorists. Dia Abdul-Zahra was killed in the fighting while the whereabouts of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni were not known. The Soldiers of Heaven or Jund al-Samaa (Arabic: جند السماء) is an armed Iraqi Shia religious group, that is probably considered heretical by most Shias. ... For other uses, see Apocalypse (disambiguation). ... The term destructive cult (sometimes called doomsday cult) is sometimes used to refer to that small number of religious groups that have intentionally killed people, either the group members themselves or others outside of the group. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Muhammad al-Mahdi. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian ; Aramaic: , ; Arabic: , ; the Anointed One) at first meant any person who was anointed with oil on rising to a certain position among the ancient Israelites, at first that of High priest, later that of King and also that of a prophet. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Dia Abdul Zahra Kadim (1970 - January 29, 2007), also known as al-Ali bin Ali bin Abi Talib, claimed to be from Hilla, Iraq, was the leader of an armed extremist Shiite Islam cult named Jund al-Samaa (Soldiers of Heaven in Arabic, a well-armed Shia cult regarding the...

The Iraqi authorities may also have exaggerated their own military success. The signs are that they underestimated the strength of the Soldiers of Heaven and had to call for urgent American air support.^[12] One U.S. adviser to Iraqi security forces cautioned against exaggerated casualty reports from the Iraqi government, saying, "There are rumors everywhere, the whole situation is so bizarre."^{[citation needed]} The adviser also questioned how the Soldiers of Heaven force had grown and remained undetected until this conflict. Iraqi officials say the group's stronghold included tunnels, trenches and blockades. The same location was also reported to include a swimming pool, air conditioned beauty salon, car-bomb making workshop and a car dismantling workshop and was described as a "compound".^[13] A neighbor said the residents had a history of "criminal activity, including car theft." Close air support (often abbreviated CAS) is the use of military aircraft in a ground attack role against targets in close proximity to friendly troops, in support of ground combat operations. ... For other uses of the word, see Trench (disambiguation). ...

After the battle, Iraqi police rounded up hundreds of sect members and put them on trial. On September 2, 2007, the criminal court passed judgement on 458 accused. Ten leaders of the Soldiers of Heaven were sentenced to death, 54 members were released, and the rest were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 years to life, Najaf police chief Brigadier General Abdel Karim Mustapha said.^[14] is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... A Brigadier General, or one-star general, is the lowest rank of general officer in the United States and some other countries, ranking just above Colonel and just below Major General. ...

References

External links

• Wikimapia: Satellite image of Najaf and Zarga
• Healing Iraq blog: Map of Najaf and Zarga
• Four 5th Special Forces soldiers honored with Army's Silver Star