On March 23, 2003, the battle of Nasiriyah began. It was one of the first major engagements of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
By the fifth day of the battle, on March 27, most Iraqi resistance in the city had been subdued and the focus had shifted from full combat to cordon-and-search operations. Small groups of Fedayeen Saddam militia continued to hide throughout the city and launched sporadic attacks on Marine patrols with small arms and RPGs. These attacks were mostly uncoordinated and the resulting firefights were lop-sided, with large numbers of Iraqi militiamen killed.
In the end, Iraqi casualties were listed at 359–431 dead, with more than 300 wounded and 1,000 captured. US losses were 32 dead, 60 wounded, and six captured.
Pictured above: U.S. Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, advance towards Iraqi troops positions in the southern city of Nasiriyah. Allied troops ran into stubborn resistance during their northbound advance towards the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
(Photo by Eric Feferberg/ AFP)
