From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Operation Steel Curtain

2005 military operation in Iraq

Field	Value
conflict	Operation Steel Curtain
partof	the Iraq War
image	OPsteel curtain 2005.JPG
caption	A U.S. Marine and Iraqi Army soldiers watch over the surrounding streets from a rooftop in Karabilah, Iraq, during Operation Steel Curtain on 11 November 2005.
date	5–22 November 2005
place	Husaybah, Karabilah, Ubaydi, Iraq
result	U.S. victory
combatant1	United States
Iraq New Iraqi Army
combatant2	[[Image:Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg	border	23px]] Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Other insurgents
commander1	United States Col. J.D. Alford (3/6)
United States Col. S.W. Davis (RCT-2)
commander2	[[Image:Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg	border	23px]] Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
casualties1	United States 10 killed, 30 injured
Iraq Unknown
casualties2	139 killed
256 captured
casualties3	97+ civilians killed

Iraq New Iraqi Army Other insurgents United States Col. S.W. Davis (RCT-2) Iraq Unknown 256 captured Operation Steel Curtain (Arabic: الحجاب الفولاذي Al Hejab Elfulathi) was a military operation executed by coalition forces in early November 2005 to reduce the flow of foreign insurgents crossing the border and joining the Iraqi insurgency. The operation was important in that it was the first large scale deployment of the New Iraqi Army. This offensive was part of the larger Operation Sayeed (Hunter), designed to prevent al Qaeda in Iraq from operating in the Euphrates River Valley and throughout Al Anbar and to establish a permanent Iraqi Army presence in the Al Qa’im region.

Operation

On 5 November, Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, and a TAP element from HQ 10th Marines, began their assault on insurgent-held Husaybah, and had cleared the city four days later. Then on 10 November the coalition forces began to attack the city of Karabilah and pursue any insurgents who fled Husaybah. After four more days of fighting in Karabilah, the coalition troops launched another phase of the operation into the city of Ubaydi, an insurgent haven and site of the earlier Operation Matador. The fortified city fell to coalition forces after seven days of fighting, bringing a conclusion to Operation Steel Curtain. The assault on Sadah and a small portion of Karabilah was known as "Operation: Iron Fist". The assault of Husaybah and Karabilah was "Operation: Steel Curtain". So named because the resident leader of anti-coalition forces, al-Zarqawi, said they would hold on to Husaybah with an "iron fist". Named by Coalition Commanders, "Operation Steel Curtain", was a hardened sweep and clear mission hence "steel curtain" because one of the SNCOs was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

Aftermath

U.S. officials reported that the operation killed 139 insurgents and took 256 more prisoners, and considered it successful. Battle positions were constructed, preventing the insurgency from regaining control of the city. At least 10 U.S. Marines and an unknown number of Iraqi soldiers died. A local physician from Husaybah, Zahid Mohammed Rawi, said that medical workers had counted 97 civilians killed in the first week of the operation.

References

link. (17 October 2006)
(24 December 2005). "U.S. Airstrikes Take Toll on Civilians".
(6 November 2006). "The Geography of War". [[Newsweek]].
Ricks, Thomas E.. (11 September 2006). "Situation Called Dire in West Iraq". The Washington Post.
John Pike. (2000). "Release A051122d - Operation Steel Curtain concludes". globalsecurity.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

iraqi-insurgency-(2003–2011) military-operations-of-the-iraq-war-in-2005 military-operations-of-the-iraq-war-involving-iraq military-operations-of-the-iraq-war-involving-the-united-states november-2005-in-iraq united-states-marine-corps-in-the-iraq-war military-operations-of-the-anbar-campaign-(2003–2011)

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Operation Steel Curtain — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report