Operation Dawn 9

Operation Dawn 9
Part of the Iran–Iraq War
Date 24 February – 20 May 1986 Location Sulaymaniyah and Rawandiz, Iraq Result Iranian strategic failure Minor gains for Iran Successful Iraqi counter-attacks contains the Iranians Iran failed to reach Sulaymaniyah and Rawandiz
Belligerents
Iraq	Iran Peshmerga
Commanders and leaders
Saddam Hussein	Ruhollah Khomeini Masoud Barzani

Operation Dawn 9 (Persian: عملیات والفجر 9) was a military operation during the Iran-Iraq War.^[1] It was launched on 24 February 1986^[2][3] on the eastern area of Sulaymaniyah at the front of "northwest", which was performed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.^[4]

The mentioned operation was commenced on 24 o'clock with the code of "Ya Allah" (Persian: یاالله). The goal of "operation dawn-9" was to approach the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, and likewise fighting the gathering of Iraqi forces in Faw. The Iranian government claimed that more than 2,500 soldiers were killed/injured with 1,634 casualties for Iraqi army.^[5] The Iranian government claimed that Iran's forces captured several areas from Iraqis, including a few border checkpoints from the heights Kana,^[6] Sholeh-Kooran, Tange-Soor, MooBara, Makhlan, Kani-Maran, Sarv, heights 1470 and 1489.^[7][8]

On 23 April 1986 Iran took advantage of the bad weather to launch the second phase of Operation Dawn 9, and overran the Iraqi battalions guarding the Rawanduz sector. This was accelerated by a rear attack by hordes of Peshmerga from the mountains. On 15 May 1,000 Peshmerga troops backed by Iranian paratroopers took hold of Mangesh. Baghdad dispatched an armored brigade, a mountain brigade, and a special forces brigade supported by attack helicopters, which eventually recaptured Mangesh. Iraqi authorities doubled the amount of Popular Army troops in the region and armed Arab volunteer farmers to patrol the sector. On 20 May the Iranians, still getting nowhere outside Rawanduz, ended Operation Dawn 9.^[9]