Operation Peninsula Strike

Operation Peninsula Strike
	Part of The War on Terrorism,; Iraq War
Date	9 June 2003 – 13 June 2003
Location	Balad, Iraq
Result	Capture of Ba'ath Party Officials; failure to suppress early insurgency
Belligerents
United States	Iraqi Insurgents
Commanders and leaders
	Unknown
Casualties and losses
4 wounded	27 Killed 320–397 captured
	None Reported

Operation Peninsula Strike was a series of raids conducted by American troops from 9 to 13 June 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, carried out by members of Task Force Ironhorse on a peninsula alongside the Tigris River near Balad, Iraq. In the operation US forces sought to target members of the Ba'ath Party, paramilitary, and subversive units. Specifically, US Forces were to hit five objectives simultaneously, detain the targets and screen them for intelligence.

The operation

Attacking from helicopters, small boats and in armored vehicles, American forces set up road blocks and began a large raid with a force of over 1,000 soldiers, who quickly captured 397 suspects. Among those who were targeted for capture were two persons on the 'Most Wanted List': Major General Abul Ali Jasmin, the former Minister of Defense, and Brigadier General Abdullah Ali Jasmin, former head of the military academy. However, none of the targets were at the locations attacked. Of the 397 initially detained, most were released within days of the operation.

On the last day of the operation, a force of Iraqi insurgents attacked a patrol from the 4th Infantry Division, which was involved in the operation. The insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at the 4th Infantry Division tank patrol. The tanks returned fire, killing four attackers and forcing the others to flee. Later, backed by Apache helicopters, the U.S. forces pursued the remaining attackers, killing another 23.

Numerous weapons caches were seized.^[2]