Al Faw peninsula landings

The Al Faw peninsula landings, also known as Operation DAWN 8, was a 1986 Iranian amphibious operation on the Al Faw peninsula.[1] Taking place between 9 and 25 February, the assault across the Shatt al-Arab achieved significant tactical and operational surprise, allowing the Iranian forces to initially gain a quick victory over Iraqi Popular Army forces in the area. Considered a turning point in the war, unlike the tactics of human wave assaults used elsewhere at the front, the operation was a sophisticated and carefully planned amphibious operation, supported by a land-based diversion employing 100,000 troops of the Seventh Corps north of the Basra area, and using deception.[2]

Background

The Iranian command was fortunate in taking advantage of torrential rain during the initial 24 hours that made it impossible for Iraq to bring to bear its superior air and artillery firepower. Not only did the amphibious landings provide a significant lodgement behind Iraq's tactical front, but they also created a psychological shock wave throughout the Gulf region.[3] Soon after the initial landings, Iranian combat engineers were able to construct bridges to improve the flow of ground troops into the lodgement area.

Attempts by Iraq to dislodge the Iranian troops made little impression due to lack of coordination, but cost Iraq 20-25 aircraft lost.[4] Iran's successive operations toward Umm-al-Qasr, which had been undertaken with the intention to cut off Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf, were contained only with considerable losses to Iraq's Republican Guard despite a three-pronged counterattack on 12 February led by General Maher Abd al-Rashid, supported by some of Iraq's best commanders Hisham Sabah al-Fakhri, and Sa'adi Tuma 'Abbas al-Jabburi.[5] However, lack of effective combined arms tactics by the Iraqi troops, and soft ground limiting tank mobility eventually halted the counterattack despite intensive close air support.

Deception

Iranian troops succeeded in reaching the Khor Abdullah waterway opposite Kuwait, creating reports in the local media that Iranian forces had surrounded the Umm Al-Qasr Iraqi naval base. Iraq's main air control and warning centre located north of the Al Faw peninsula that was covering the Gulf area of operations, was also captured by Iran. This created a state of near panic in neighbouring Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Losses

Use of chemical weapons and intense fighting cost Iraq an estimated 10,000 casualties, while Iran lost about 30,000 during the two weeks.[6] An attempt to exploit the breakout from the captured territory to completely sever Iraq's link to the Gulf was contained.

In a panic move, several Gulf states lobbied Syria to influence Iran from further attempts to cut off Iraq's oil export facilities which would have had deleterious effect on world oil prices.

References

  1. ↑ Stephen C. Pelletiere, The Iran-Iraq War: Chaos in a Vacuum, ABC-CLIO, 1992, p.142
  2. ↑ Efraim Karsh, The Iran-Iraq War, The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008, p.46
  3. ↑ Mohiaddin Mesbahi , The USSR and the Iran-Iraq War: From Brezhnev to Gorbachev, in Farhang Rajaee, ed., The Iran-Iraq War: The Politics of Aggression, University Press of Florida, 1993, p.83
  4. ↑ Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991, University of Nebraska Press, 2004, p.217
  5. ↑ Karsh, p.46
  6. ↑ Karsh, p.46
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.