Battle of the Karbala Gap (2003)

Battle of the Karbala Gap
Part of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq

Destroyed Iraqi Lion of Babylon tank on Highway 9 south of Karbala Gap
Date2–4 April 2003
Location
Outside Karbala and Al Musayib, Iraq
Result U.S. victory[1]
Belligerents
 United States  Iraq
Commanders and leaders
United States Maj. Gen. Buford Blount II

Ba'athist Iraq Lt. Gen. Ra'ad al-Hamdani[2]
Ba'athist Iraq Faiq Abdullah Mikbas
Ba'athist Iraq Riyadh Hussein Nayeri
Ba'athist Iraq Hamid Ismail Darash
Ba'athist Iraq Colonel Hassani
Ba'athist Iraq Rukan Ujaili

Ba'athist Iraq Lieutenant-Colonel Qais
Strength
US 3rd Infantry Division Iraqi Republican Guard Medina and Nizar Divisions[3]
Casualties and losses
1 Killed by friendly fire; unknown number wounded[4]
1 tank damaged[5]		 680–940 Killed in action;
Unknown captured/wounded
Hundreds of armored vehicles destroyed[6]

The Battle of the Karbala Gap occurred during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Karbala Gap is a 20–25-mile wide strip of land with the Euphrates River to the east and Lake Razazah to the west. This strip of land was recognized by Iraqi commanders as a key approach to Baghdad, and was defended by the Medina and Bakhtnisar Divisions[7] of the Iraqi Republican Guard. American forces attacked Iraqi forces in the area with massive air attacks followed by concentrated armored thrusts which resulted in the Iraqi units being surrounded and annihilated.

  1. ^ "Interview with Col. David Perkins". Pbs.org. 23 February 2004. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  2. ^ "PBS Frontline Operation Iraqi Freedom timeline -- April 2". Pbs.org. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference stripes.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Edward Korn was the 3rd I.D. captain killed on April 3 in the Karbala Gap while searching an Iraqi T-72 tank for possible intelligence documents." National Journal, Volume 35, Pages 1025–1336, National Journal Group Incorp., 2003
  5. ^ "Operation Iraqi Freedom - The Invasion Of Iraq - FRONTLINE - PBS". PBS.
  6. ^ "Karbala, Karbala gap, and north to Baghdad Wages of War-- Appendix 1. Survey of reported Iraqi combatant fatalities in the 2003 war - Commonwealth Institute of Cambridge". Comw.org. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  7. ^ ""The Iraqi high command had positioned the Medina and Bakhtnisar Republican Guard divisions to block the Karbala Gap, but Hamdani argued for reinforcements. The Iraqi leadership ignored his appeals, however, because it feared going against President Saddam Hussein's orders and having troops cut off from the defense of Baghdad." The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts, Spencer C. Tucker, p. 673, ABC-CLIO, 2010