Operation Phantom Phoenix
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.
Operation timeline[edit]
Diyala and Salah ad-Din operations[edit]
On 8 January 2008, Multi-National Division-North (MND-N) launched Operation Iron Harvest against Al Qaida in Iraq elements in the Diyala province with operations concentrated on Muqdadiyah. Following up on Operation Iron Reaper launched in November 2007, Iron Harvest consisted of two sub-operations: Operation Raider Harvest, carried out by the 4th BCT of the 2nd Infantry Division in Diyala province; and operation Warrior Harvest, carried out by the 1st BCT of the 10th Mountain Division in Kirkuk province (formerly At-Ta'mim province). During the first month of the operation, a contingent of US Marines supported the 4th BCT of the 2nd Infantry Division (Operation Raider Harvest). They were requested from MNF-W to provide support with MRAPs and ground forces. They assisted in conducting cordon-raids, convoy operations, patrols, and worked with US Army Special Forces.
In the lead up to the operation an information blackout aimed at most of the MNF-I's New Iraqi Army comrades was implemented—it has been reported that the Iraqi army had previously used unencrypted forms of communications including regular cellphones and radio.[3][4]
Following the communications blackout, American troops began a major offensive to drive Sunni insurgents from strongholds in the Diyala and Salah ad-Din provinces. Despite the preemptive measures, insurgents are believed to have gained prior knowledge of the operation plans and pulled out before the Americans arrived. It has been speculated by MNF-I commanders that militants may have been tipped off by communications leaks or by the visible movements of troops and machinery preceding the operation. However some insurgents remained in the province to engage the coalition troops in a possible attempt to delay further advances.[3]
Seven American battalions, accompanied by Iraqi Army units, advanced into a 110-square-mile (280 km2) area in the northern Diyala River valley. Decoy operations were attempted in Baqubah and Wajihiya to the south to mislead the insurgents however advance units noticed an unusual number of women and children fleeing south in cars in the days before the operation. Insurgent fighters left the villages days before but some remained behind or returned to plant car bombs.[3]
During fighting in Diyala over the course of 24 hours up to 24 insurgents were killed and ten captured. In Salah ad-Din at the same time three US soldiers were killed and two wounded after their vehicle hit an IED.[5]
On the second day of the operation American troops involved in the operation suffered further casualties. Six soldiers were killed and four wounded in a blast as their patrol investigated a house which was rigged with explosives.[4]
Fighting continued near Muqdadiyah on day three of the offensive. Eight insurgents were killed in Muqdadiyah and another two insurgents were killed elsewhere in Diyala.[6][7]
On day 7, 15 insurgents were killed when heavy fighting erupted in Buhriz, a small village south of Baquba. During house searches by Iraqi Police, three Iraqi policemen and two Awakening Council militiamen were killed when the house they were searching blew up because of booby traps laid by militants. Another two policemen were missing. Another Awakening Council militiaman was killed in fighting on the outskirts of town.[8]
On day 10, an IED killed three US soldiers in Salah ad-Din and wounded two.
On day 12, Coalition and Iraqi Army forces reported 121 militants killed, and 1,023 suspected militants captured so far. Also on the same day there was an attempted attack on the governor of Diyala province. Three security personnel were killed and two wounded when a bomb exploded at his residence.
By day 16, Coalition troops cleared a key route between Baghdad and Baqubah of improvised explosive devices. The area of the road between Khan Bani Sa'ad and Baqubah had been so heavily covered in IEDs that vehicles had to take other routes to get back and forth from Baghdad and Baqubah. It was also confirmed that 41 of all the insurgents killed in Diyala by then during the operation were al-Qaeda in Iraq operatives.[9]
On day 19, Iraqi Security Forces, advised by US Special Forces, detained an extremist leader and a terrorist financier in separate operations in Safwan, Iraq. Iraqi and US forces also detained the leader of an extremist group believed to be responsible for mortar and explosive projectile attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
By 10 February 2008 Coalition forces and Iraqi Security Forces had conducted 74 different operations at the company level and above as part of Iron Harvest. Seventy high-value individuals were captured or killed, in addition to hundreds of other lower-level enemy fighters. 430 weapons caches, 653 IEDs, 42 HBIEDs, 35 VBIEDs, and 3 VBIED factories were all found and cleared.[10]
On day 42, Iraqi army and police forces backed by US aircraft and fighters from local anti-Al-Qaida Awakening Council group carried out a raid at dawn on insurgent hideouts on the open areas near Lake Tharthar, 120 km north of Baghdad in Salah ad-Din province, on Saturday, killing 10 suspected insurgents, including a local leader, and capturing 4 others, a provincial police officer said. Abdul Basit al-Nissani, a local leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq network, blew himself up after he was surrounded by the security forces while crossing a small river, he said.[11]
On 25 March, UK SAS troops conducted a raid on a bomb-making team that left one UK soldier dead along with two insurgents and nine civilians, including women and children. Four British soldiers were wounded.[12]
On 13 April Coalition forces from MND-N discovered a mass grave south of Muqdadiyah. The grave contained between 20 and 30 bodies which are estimated to have been buried for nearly eight months.[13]
On 15 April, in Baquba as many as 36 people were killed and at least 66 more were wounded during a car bombing near the courthouse.[14] The VBIED (vehicle borne improvised explosive device) was determined to have contained over 1,000 pounds of home-made explosives (HME).
On 17 April, near Tuz Khormato in the village of al-Bu Mohammed, at least 50 people were killed and 55 more were wounded when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives at a funeral for two US-allied Awakening Council militia members killed a day earlier. The older bomber was dressed in traditional garb and allowed to enter the funeral freely.