Operation Iron Hammer (Iraq 2003)

Operation Iron Hammer
	Part of The 1st Armored Division wait to begin a cordon and search of a Baghdad neighborhood as part of Operation Iron Hammer.
Date	12 November 2003 – 25 December 2003
Location	Baghdad, Iraq
Result	Capture of anti-coalition forces weapons; failure to suppress expanding insurgency
Belligerents
United States	Iraqi Insurgency
Casualties and losses
None reported	2 killed; 3 wounded
	None reported

Operation Iron Hammer was a joint operation between the US Army, US Air Force and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps with the objective of preventing the staging of weapons by anti-coalition forces, and preemptively destroy enemy operating bases and fighters in Baghdad.^[1]

Launch

The operation was launched on the night of 12 November 2003

AH-64 Apache^[3]

helicopter followed the van and attacked it, killing two suspected anti-coalition fighters and wounding three others. Five others were captured. Soldiers found an 82 mm mortar launch tube at one of the van's stops.

Strikes

In Operation Iron Hammer the military began preemptively destroying buildings suspected to be bases of operations for anti-coalition forces. The buildings included the former

AC-130 Spectre gunships and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles. U.S. forces also fired artillery

rounds at two suspected mortar and rocket launch sites, one in western Baghdad and one in eastern Baghdad.

Conclusion

At the conclusion of Operation Iron Hammer Coalition forces has conducted 609 patrols in and around Baghdad capturing 33 enemy personnel. Combat actions included two cordon-and-search operations in Baghdad, detaining six people with suspected ties to the

Abu Ghuraib area with the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps

.