Battle of Basra (2007)
Battle of the Iraq War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Quick Facts Date, Location ...
Battle of Basra (2007) | |||||||
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Part of Iraq War | |||||||
Map of UK bases in Basra: airport on the left, Basra Palace on the right | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | Mahdi Army | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
6,200 | ≈1,000[1] |
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The Battle of Basra was initiated by the Mahdi Army (Jaysh al-Mahdi) to capture the city of Basra in 2007. Following the reported major failure of the coalition forces, whose purpose was to stabilise Basra and prepare it for the turning over of security to Iraqi government forces, the city was overrun by insurgent forces from three different Iraqi factions including the Mahdi Army, and the British found themselves under major siege in their bases and capable of conducting only limited defence action in armoured convoys.