Operation Phantom Phoenix

Operation Phantom Phoenix
Part of the Iraq War
Date 8 January 2008 – 28 July 2008 Location North-central Iraq Result Partial Coalition victory Coalition victory in Diyala and Salah ad-Din provinces[citation needed] Indecisive outcome in Mosul and Kirkuk provinces
Belligerents
United States Iraq Georgia United Kingdom	Islamic state of Iraq Other Iraqi Insurgents
Commanders and leaders
David Petraeus Gordon Brown Babaker Shawkat Zebari Davit Kezerashvili	Ayyub al-Masri Abdul Basit al-Nissani †
Strength
United States: 24,000 Iraqi Security Forces: 130,000 Sons of Iraq: 14,000[1]
Casualties and losses
59 killed 568 security forces killed 2 missing 7 captured 208 Sons of Iraq killed 4 captured 3 killed 1 killed	890 killed, 2,500+ captured

Operation Phantom Phoenix was a major nationwide offensive launched by the Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I) on 8 January 2008 in an attempt to build on the success of the two previous corps-level operations, Operation Phantom Thunder and Operation Phantom Strike and further reduce violence and secure Iraq's population, particularly in the capital Baghdad. The offensive consisted of a number of joint Coalition and Iraqi Army operations throughout northern Iraq as well as in the southern Baghdad Belts.

The northern operation was designated Operation Iron Harvest. Its objective was to hunt down the remaining 200 Al-Qaeda extremists remaining in the province of Diyala following the end of the previous offensive. The operation also included targeting insurgent elements in Salah ad-Din province and Nineveh province. The southern operation was designated Operation Marne Thunderbolt and targeted insurgent safe havens in the belts to the south-east of Baghdad, particularly the Arab Jabour region.

Additionally, Phantom Phoenix's aims were the remaining car, truck and suicide bomb networks in Baghdad as well as al-Qaeda's financial network.