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2004 Iraq spring fighting | |||||||
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Part of the Iraq War | |||||||
US soldiers peer over a rooftop ledge to fix in enemy targets in Fallujah | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom Spain Australia Poland New Iraqi Army Multinational forces in Iraq |
Insurgent groups: Ba'ath Party loyalists Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Islamic Army in Iraq 1920 Revolution Brigade Army of Mujahideen Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Ansar al-Islam Mahdi Army Other insurgent groups and militias | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gen. John Abizaid Col. Peter Mansoor |
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad) Mahdi Al-Sumaidaie (Islamist leader) Abdullah al-Janabi (Islamist leader) Omar Hadid (Islamist commander) Muqtada al-Sadr (Mahdi Army) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
200,000 | 35,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
217 killed 1 captured 2,500 wounded 150 killed; 14,800 deserted Other coalition forces: 16 killed 107 wounded[1][2][3][4][5] |
1342 killed 430 captured (coalition claim) |
The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war; the Spring Fighting marked the entrance into the conflict of militias and religiously based (Shi'a and Sunni) militant Iraqi groups, such as the Shi'a Mahdi Army.