Battle of Hillah (2003)

Fighting in Al Hillah began on 31 March 2003 when a platoon from the 101st Airborne Division riding exposed on tanks from 2-70 Armor crossed into southern Al Hillah from Al Kifl, at approximately 0600 AST. There, US forces advanced along Highway 8, protected with air cover. At 0630, an American AH-64 came under fire from Iraqi soldiers entrenched in bunkers, and by 0640 American soldiers were engaged in combat with Iraqi infantry. What followed was intensely fierce urban combat as Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah, under fire from Republican Guard soldiers and Iraqi infantry.[2]

After nearly 15 minutes of intense gun battle, US ground units halted near the campus of Babylon Community College, where they exchanged small arms and artillery fire with two entrenched Republican Guard infantry battalions, two artillery batteries, and extensive air defense systems. For five hours, Coalition forces were engaged in close combat fighting, at times so fierce that the American M1 Abrams tanks couldn't aim their machine guns low enough to engage Iraqi troops. As fighting raged, Apache helicopters (most of which were United States Air Force and some of which were British Royal Air Force[3])conducted numerous attack runs and fire missions on Iraqi defenses until all their weaponry and nearly all their fuel had been expended. 8 Apaches returned to their base damaged, with repair teams reported to have been pulling unexploded RPGs out of the skins of the helicopters. Many pilots had been injured, and one seriously injured pilot later received a Purple Heart for wounds he sustained during the battle.[2]

At 1730 hours AST, US Colonel Joseph Anderson ordered Coalition forces to withdraw. One US soldier had been killed in the battle, but the fighting had cost the Iraqis 1,200 or more soldiers killed or wounded, one Republican Guard infantry battalion, one armored company, two field artillery batteries, and one antiaircraft battery.[2]

Following the withdrawal, Coalition aircraft launched an assault on the remaining defenses in Al Hillah. Numerous cluster bombs were dropped, causing military and civilian casualties. Following the bombing, Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah and captured the city by the end of 1 April, encountering sparse resistance. With Al Hillah captured, Coalition forces were clear to advance towards Najaf.

Small pockets of resistance, composed mostly of Iraqi irregulars, continued to hold out in Al Hillah until 11 April, but nearly all Iraqi military resistance in the city had been annihilated and the Republican Guard no longer posed a serious threat to Coalition forces.[2]