Insurgency
Soldiers of 1st Battalion The Royal Welch Fusiliers deploying from a Chinook, July 2004. NAM 2005-01-67-1 Crown Copyright
The US announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq in May 2003, but unrest has continued. Almost immediately after the capture of Baghdad a violent insurgency began. Initially centred on the 'Sunni Triangle' around the capital, Fallujah and Tikrit, the uprising eventually spread to Najaf, al-Kut, Nasiriyah and Basra. Groups including former Baathists, nationalists, Sunni Muslims, supporters of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and foreign Islamists have waged war for the last three years.
Major operations
A soldier of 7th Armoured Brigade undertakes running repairs, 2003.
NAM 2005-01-67-42 Crown Copyright
Large-scale battles between the coalition and insurgents have taken place. The Shiite uprising of Spring 2004, led by Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, captured parts of Baghdad, Najaf, Kufa, Nasiriyah, Amarah and Basra. Over the next three months, over 1,500 Mahdi Army militiamen, several hundred civilians and dozens of coalition soldiers were killed as the Americans and their allies gradually took back the cities.
Another major operation was the US and Iraqi assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah in November 2004. Over 50 US soldiers were killed and several hundred wounded. As many as 2,000 insurgents may have been killed. Reports also suggest a heavy toll among civilians in the city.
Insurgent methods
Hidden Iraqi ordnance and explosives, 2003. NAM 2005-01-67-19 Crown Copyright
Most engagements with the insurgents have been on a much smaller scale, reflecting the nature of what is a bitter low-intensity war. The tactics used by the militants vary. Some use car bombs, kidnappings, hostage-taking, suicide bombings, shootings and other types of attack against Iraqi 'collaborators' and coalition forces with little regard for civilian casualties. Other groups claim to restrict their attacks to the 'occupying' forces and avoid the targeting of civilians.
Guerrilla operations against coalition targets have taken the form of attacks on convoys using mines or improvised explosive devices (IED). These are often hidden behind roadside rails, on telephone poles, buried in the ground or in piles of rubbish.
British and American soldiers have also been ambushed by fighters using machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Soft-skinned vehicles are a favourite target. Sniping has also caused coalition casualties.
Mortars and car bombs
Mortar or rocket attacks have also been carried out against coalition bases or those buildings associated with the Iraqi government or a foreign presence. Insurgents fire a few mortar rounds or rockets and then try to escape.
An officer of The Black Watch walks from his Warrior APC to the scene of a vehicle bomb, 2004.
NAM 2005-01-67-36 Crown Copyright
One of the insurgents' most terrifying weapons is the suicide car bomb that is deliberately driven at coalition vehicles and soldiers.
Threat of civil war
A soldier of the Black Watch is passed by Warrior APCs, south of Baghdad, 2004.
NAM 2005-01-67-26 Crown Copyright
Although Iraq's first democratic elections in decades (held in December 2005) were a success, the transition to a stable Iraqi government has been difficult. Originally, the insurgents targeted coalition forces, but the violence has become increasingly sectarian.
Insurgent attacks on Shia targets and killings blamed on Shia death squads have formed a cycle of revenge and reprisal. Fears of an Iraqi civil war grow by the day.
All photographs taken by WO2 Giles Penfound, Army Media Operations, during Operation TELIC. Crown Copyright.
5 March 2007
