| Battle of Tal Afar | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theIraq War | |||||||
 U.S. Army soldiers and Iraqi soldiers patrolling through downtown Tal Afar, Iraq, September 11, 2005. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States Iraq |  Al-Qaeda in Iraq | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| H. R. McMaster Khursheed Saleem Daski |  Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi[1] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000 3,500 | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4 killed[2] 15 killed[3] | 163 killed 440–700 captured[3][4] | ||||||
TheBattle of Tal Afar also known asOperation Restoring Rights[5] was a military offensive conducted by theUnited States Army and supported byIraqi forces, to eliminateAl Qaeda in Iraq andother insurgents in the city ofTal Afar,Iraq in response to the increase of insurgent attacks against U.S. and Iraqi positions in the area and to end the brutal tactics against the population by the terrorists.[5] Coalition Forces consisted of3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment,[5] elements of the82nd Airborne Division,[4] and two brigades of the Iraqi3rd Division, all were under the command of Col.H.R. McMaster. AQI had used the city as a staging ground for moving foreign fighters into Iraq since early 2005.[6] Thecity was temporarily cleared for elections in 2005, but was not secured in a long-term view.
The offensive was launched on September 1, 2005, in a jointUnited States Army and theNew Iraqi Army operation to destroy suspected insurgents' havens and base of operations in Tal Afar. The initial fighting was heavy, but most of the city was secured on September 3. Sporadic fighting and attacks would continue through most of September until the operation was declared finished on September 18.
Coalition forces developed and executed a detailed, painstaking methodology, that combined intelligence gathering, combat missions and stability programmes to reconstruct Coalition control of the city, one neighbourhood at a time.[7] McMaster directed civilians to evacuate from the city in order to allow his forces to use artillery and attack helicopters to overcome the insurgents' makeshift Fortifications.[6] The local rebels were reportedly led byAmir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi, an AQI judge and official.[1] Coalition forces fought street-to-street engagements with AQI terrorists and other insurgents, AQI insurgents tried to hold their ground, they also planned and executed coordinated attacks against Coalition troops, they also demonstrated the ability to somewhat command and control the insurgents in the City.[5] Groups of insurgents perhaps hundreds massed to counterattack the advancing US and Iraqi forces, butAbrams tanks andBradley IFVs "tore them apart."[6] In early September, the insurgents launched a counter-information propaganda campaign;[8] over 17 days, US forces systematically destroyed insurgent cell throughout the city.[4] Despite being encircled, some AQI terrorists escaped the city.[9]
By September 18, the battle was over, Coalition forces succeeded in significantly eliminating AQI and other insurgents from the city, thereby creating a secure environment for thereferendum in October andnational elections in December 2005, Tal Afar went from being the city with the lowest number of voters to the highest in the country, schools and businesses reopened and the population transitioned back to living a normal life as possible.[5] After the battle, McMaster positioned his troops 29 combat outposts throughout the city to hold the cleared areas, from these outposts they saturated Iraqi neighbourhoods with patrols, once civilians returned to the city, the use of force was minimized. 2nd Battalion325th Infantry Regiment did not kill any civilians which won the appreciation of the locals; building intelligence on insurgents was made easier with the cooperation of theShia minority in the city. Similarly McMaster could recruit a police force because the Shia were willing to serve, whereasSunnis considered the Iraqi Army and police to be their enemy.[6] The operation was considered one of the first successful counterinsurgency operations of the war andPresidentGeorge W. Bush remarked that "the story of Tal Afar gives me confidence in our strategy, because in that city we see the outlines of the Iraq we've been fighting for."[4]
36°22′27″N42°27′13″E / 36.3742°N 42.4536°E /36.3742; 42.4536