2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting

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2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting

Part of the Iraq War, Iraqi insurgency
| Date| January 18–19, 2008

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Location|

Basra & Nasiriyah, Iraq

Result|  Iraqi security forces victory
Belligerents
Iraq|  Soldiers of Heaven
Commanders and leaders
Gen. Abdul-Jalil Khalaf
Col. Abdel Amir Jabbar †|  Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni
Abu Mustapha Ansari †
Strength
Unknown|  200+
Casualties and losses
18 killed
33 wounded|  58 killed
166 captured
4 civilians killed
Unconfirmed reports suggest 147 killed on both sides

* v
* t
* e

Iraq War (Outline)

Timeline

* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011

Prelude

Invasion (2003)

* Umm Qasr
* Al Faw
* 1st Basra
* Nasiriyah
* Raid on Karbala
* Haditha Dam
* 1st Najaf
* Northern Delay
* Viking Hammer
* Samawah
* 1st Karbala
* Al Kut
* Hillah
* Green Line
* Karbala Gap
* Debecka Pass
* Kani Domlan Ridge
* Baghdad

Post-invasion insurgency (2003–2006)

* Al Anbar
* Killing of Qusay & Uday Hussein
* 1st Ramadan
* Latifiya
* Capture of Saddam Hussein
* Spring 2004
* City Hall
* Al Kut [uk]
* Iron Saber
* 1st Fallujah
* Sadr City
* 1st Ramadi
* Good Friday
* Husaybah
* Danny Boy
* 2nd Najaf
* CIMIC-House
* Samarra
* 2nd Fallujah
* Mosul
* Lake Tharthar
* Al Qa'im
* Hit
* Haditha
* Steel Curtain
* Tal Afar
* 2nd Ramadi
* Together Forward
* Diwaniya

Civil war (2006–2008)

* 2nd Ramadan
* Sinbad
* Amarah
* Turki
* Diyala
* Haifa Street
* Karbala Raid
* 3rd Najaf
* Imposing Law
* U.K. bases
* Black Eagle
* Baghdad belts
* Alljah
* Baqubah
* Donkey Island
* Shurta Nasir
* Phantom Strike
* 2nd Karbala
* Phantom Phoenix

Insurgency (2008–2011)

* 2008 Day of Ashura
* Nineveh
* Spring 2008
* 2nd Basra
* 2008 al-Qaeda Offensive
* Augurs of Prosperity
* Abu Kamal
* Palm Grove
* Camp Ashraf
* US withdrawal violence

* v
* t
* e

List of bombings during the Iraq War

‡ indicates attacks resulting in over 100 deaths
§ indicates the deadliest attack in the Iraq War
This list only includes major attacks.

2003
1st Baghdad
2nd Baghdad
Najaf
3rd Baghdad
1st Nasiriyah
1st Karbala

2004
‡ 1st Erbil
‡ Ashoura
1st Basra
1st Mosul
4th Baghdad
5th Baghdad
Karbala & Najaf
1st Baqubah
Kufa
Marez

2005
Suwaira bombing
‡ 1st Al Hillah
2nd Erbil
‡ Musayyib
6th Baghdad
‡ 7th Baghdad
1st Balad
Khanaqin

2006
‡ Karbala-Ramadi
1st Samarra
8th Baghdad
9th Baghdad
‡ 10th Baghdad

2007
11th Baghdad
12th Baghdad
‡ 13th Baghdad
14th Baghdad
15th Baghdad
‡ 2nd Al Hillah
‡ 1st Tal Afar
16th Baghdad
17th Baghdad
2nd & 3rd Karbala
2nd Mosul
‡ 18th Baghdad
Makhmour
Abu Sayda
2nd Samarra
19th Baghdad
‡ Amirli
1st Kirkuk
20th Baghdad
21st Baghdad
§ Qahtaniya
Amarah

2008
22nd Baghdad
2nd Balad
23rd Baghdad
4th Karbala
24th Baghdad
Karmah
2nd Baqubah
Dujail
Balad Ruz

2009
25th Baghdad
26th Baghdad
Baghdad-Muqdadiyah
Taza
27th Baghdad
2nd Kirkuk
2nd Tal Afar
‡ 28th Baghdad
‡ 29th Baghdad
‡ 30th Baghdad

2010
31st Baghdad
32nd Baghdad
3rd Baqubah
33rd Baghdad
34th Baghdad
35th Baghdad
‡ 1st Pan-Iraq
36th Baghdad
37th Baghdad
2nd Pan-Iraq
38th Baghdad
39th Baghdad
‡ 40th Baghdad

2011
41st Baghdad
‡ 3rd Pan-Iraq
Karbala-Baghdad
42nd Baghdad
Tikrit
3rd Al Hillah
3rd Samarra
Al Diwaniyah
Taji
4th Pan-Iraq
43rd Baghdad
4th Karbala
44th Baghdad
2nd Basra
45th Baghdad

The 2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting was a series of clashes that occurred on the Islamic holy day of Ashura on January 18, 2008 and the next day in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Nasiriyah. The battles were fought between the Iraqi security forces and fighters of an Iraqi cult called the Soldiers of Heaven, which a year before fought a similar battle, also on Ashura, near the city of Najaf. Then their leader was reported killed along with his deputy Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni but this time around it was reported that al-Yemeni was still alive and leading the cultists.

## The battle

[edit]

Cultist fighters started attacking members of the security forces in the two cities on January 18 and heavy fighting ensued. Initially the rebels had the upper hand and even took control of a police station in Nasiriyah and set up a command center in a mosque in the city. Fighting raged late in the evening, and burned out police vehicles were seen on the streets of Basra. Rebels captured an oil facilities building and a hospital in Basra and at one point there was fighting in 75 percent of the city.

The next morning a coalition air strike destroyed the police station which was taken over, and late in the afternoon an Iraqi Army raid on the mosque ended the fighting.[1][2]

## Aftermath

[edit]

Up to 58 cultist fighters and 18 members of the security forces were killed, along with four civilians. 33 policemen were wounded. Among the casualties of the security forces, 15 were Police and 3 were Army. The Iraqi Police and Army also detained 166 militants.

In fighting in Basra: 5 policemen, 3 soldiers, 40 rebels and 2 civilians were killed. In the fighting in Nasiriyah: 10 policemen, 18 rebels and 2 civilians were killed. Among the dead were Abu Mustapha Ansari, the leader of the Soldiers of Heaven in Basra and four police colonels: Colonel Zamel Khazaal Badr, the head of police intelligence in Nasiriyah, Colonel Abdel Amir Jabbar, the commander of the rapid-intervention force in Ziqar province, Colonel Naji Rustom, head of the emergency police force of Nasiriyah and Lt. Colonel Ali Hashim, commander of the Nasiriyah transport police. 166 cultists were captured in Basra, Nasiriyah and Musayyib. Among the captured rebels were two 14-year-old snipers that were responsible for the deaths of two policemen in Basra.[3][4]

However some reports only days later suggested that the death toll from the fighting was much higher than firstly reported with at least 50 people killed in Nasiriyah and up to 97 people killed and 217 wounded in Basra.

Once again the fate of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni remained unknown.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ [1] Archived October 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ [2] Archived January 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Eighty dead in Iraqi bloodshed". Archived from the original on 2008-01-22.
4. ^ Paley, Amit R. (January 20, 2008). "At Least 9 Killed in Attacks in Northern Iraq on Shiite Holy Day". The Washington Post.

[1][2]

1. ^ Smith, David; agencies (2008-01-19). "Ashura processions in Iraq marred by violence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
2. ^ "Iraqi Shia pilgrims mark holy day". BBC UK. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2020-05-16.

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