2006
The beginning of 2006 was marked by government creation talks, growing sectarian violence, and continuous anti-coalition attacks. Sectarian violence expanded to a new level of intensity following the al-Askari Mosque bombing in the Iraqi city of Samarra, on February 22, 2006. The explosion at the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam, is believed to have been caused by a bomb planted by Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Although no injuries occurred in the blast, the mosque was severely damaged and the bombing resulted in violence over the following days.
As of October 20 the U.S military announced that Operation Together Forward had failed to stem the tide of violence in Baghdad, and Shiite militants under al-Sadr seized several southern Iraq cities.
On November 23, the deadliest attack since the beginning of the Iraq war occurred. Suspected Sunni-Arab militants used five suicide car bombs and two mortar rounds on the capital's Shiite Sadr City slum to kill at least 215 people and wound 257. Shiite mortar teams quickly retaliated, firing 10 shells at Sunni Islam's most important shrine in Baghdad, badly damaging the Abu Hanifa mosque and killing one person. Eight more rounds slammed down near the offices of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the top Sunni Muslim organisation in Iraq, setting nearby houses on fire. Two other mortar barrages on Sunni neighborhoods in west Baghdad killed nine and wounded 21, police said.
After capture in December 2003, Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30, 2006 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court.
| Battle/Operation Name | From Date | To Date | Location | Purpose/Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation Industrial Revolution | 20060810 | 20060810 | Southeast Fallujah/Industrial Sector | Cordone and Search Looking for roadside and car bomb Making Facilities |
| Operation Iron Arrow I | 2006???? | 2006???? | Obeidi region, northern portion | Counterinsurgency: Conducted to root out terrorists on the Sunni side of town |
| Operation Post Hawk | 2006???? | 2006???? | ||
| Operation Unified Fist | 2006???? | 2006???? | Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: |
| Operation Baghdad is Beautiful | 200601?? | 200601?? | Baghdad | Humanitarian: Cleanup up Baghdad |
| Operation King Tut | 200601?? | 200601?? | Baghdad | Security: Searched for weapons caches |
| Operation Red Bull | 200601?? | 200601?? | the “Triad” area of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana | Security: The search revealed 75 weapons caches terrorists planned to use during attacks in the region. |
| Operation Falcon Sweep | 20060111, on or about | 20060111, on or about | Shakaria | Counterinsurgency: One of the operation's objectives was to identify and capture terrorists in the village |
| Operation Red Bull II | 20060118 | 20060118 | the “Triad” area of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana | Counterinsurgency: Continue clearing all insurgent operations out of the “Triad” area. |
| Operation Final Strike (Al Dharba Al Nihaa’ya) | 20060129 | 20060129 | Jazerra area northwest of Habbaniyah, 75 km west of Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: Aimed at neutralizing the insurgency activity and providing a secure area for the citizens of the Jazerra. |
| Operation Smokewagon | 20060202 | 20060205 | Hīt, numerous villages south of | Counterinsurgency: Looking for insurgents and their weapons caches |
| Operation PitBull | 20060210 | 20060217 | east of the Euphrates River | Counterinsurgency: Designed to squash insurgent operations |
| Operation God help us (Ala Allah) | 20060212 | 20060213 | Subiyhat | Counterinsurgency: To clear the area of insurgents and interact with the populace |
| Operation Dirty Harry | 20060220 | 20060220 | Muqdadiyah, a neighborhood and farmlands in the southern portion | Security and Counterinsurgency: To cordon and knock a local neighborhood which included searching homes and farmland for anti-coalition forces and weapon caches |
| Operation Minotaur | 20060226 | 20060226 | a town along the Euphrates River in Al Anbar Province, northwest of Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: Was aimed at clearing more than nine kilometers of riverbank and several small villages south of Haqlaniyah |
| Operation Swamp Fox | 200603?? | 200603?? | Muqdadiyah | Counterinsurgency: Coalition and Iraqi forces detained 104 suspected insurgents and confiscated a cache of weapons |
| Operation Raging Bull | 200603?? | 200603?? | the “Triad” region of Haditha, Haqliniyah, and Barwanah off the Euphrates River in western Al Anbar Province | Counterinsurgency: The first, fully independent Iraqi Army-led mission in the “Triad” region |
| Operation Raging Bull II | 200603?? | 200603?? | ||
| Operation Jaws V | 200603?? | 20060304 | Fallujah | Counterinsurgency: Disrupting insurgents’ efforts to launch mortar and improvised explosive device attacks against Coalition Forces |
| Operation El Toro Loco | 20060301 | 20060301 | Baghdadi | Counterinsurgency: |
| Operation Glory Light | 20060302 | 20060309 | Sadr to Yusufiyah area | Counterinsurgency: Was designed to deny insurgents sanctuary and preempt enemy attacks in the Baghdad area |
| Operation Lion | 20060302 | 20060302 | Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: Discovered more than 62 tons of munitions and weapons were discovered in over 80 weapons caches as well as the capture of 65 suspected insurgents |
| Operation Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. | 20060310 | 20060310 | Fallujah | Humanitarian: Handed out toys and pamphlets to Iraqi Children |
| Operation Focus | 20060312 | 20060312 | Diwaniyah | Counterinsurgency: Found a weapons cache |
| Operation Scales of Justice | 20060312 | 200603?? | Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: Approximately 800 suspected insurgents had been detained and 140 weapons caches discovered and cleared as part of the operation |
| Operation Swarmer | 20060316 | 20060322 | a 10-by-10 mile square area northeast of Samarra | Counterinsurgency: The operation resulted in 104 suspected insurgents currently being detained and questioned, and 24 caches discovered. |
| Operation Cowpens | 20060319 | 20060414 | Jabouri Peninsula | Counterinsurgency: Discovering caches and hampering insurgent efforts |
| Operation Northern Lights | 20060321 | 2006???? | Abu Ghraib | Counterinsurgency: To disrupt anti-Iraqi forces and to find and destroy terrorist caches in Abu Ghraib. Operation Northern Lights was a joint U.S-Iraqi operation which consisted of approximately 1,400 personnel. Most of the information is confidential and not public. |
| Operation Scorpion | 20060324 | 20060325 | Hawijiah | Counterinsurgency: A sequential cordon and search of eight villages in and around Hawijah |
| Operation Red Light II | 20060331 | 20060331 | Saladin Province | Counterinsurgency: Detained 17 anti-Iraqi forces personnel and discovered four weapons caches |
| Operation Cobra Strike (2006) | 200604?? | 200604?? | Haswah and Iskandariyah | Counterinsurgency: Was a mission intended to locate the suspected leader and financier of a terrorist cell working in the area. The suspected terrorists were implicated in murders, kidnappings and the emplacement of roadside bombs |
| Operation Harvest Lights | 200604?? | 200605?? | Najaf, Karbala and Babil Provinces | Humanitarian: To control the progressive loss of the date palm crop and regenerate the industry |
| Operation Money Worth | 200604?? | 200604?? | Baghdad | Security: Placed more than 500 concrete barriers at points throughout Baghdad |
| Operation Sterling | 200604?? | 2006???? | Basra | Counterinsurgency: Detained 14 individuals and recovered a significant weapons cache |
| Operation Hastings | 20060404 | 20060407 | Fallujah, northeast of | Counterinsurgency: To take weapons out of the hands of insurgents |
| Operation Bastogne | 20060406 | 20060406 | Baghdad | Security: Blocking off escape routes frequented by insurgents |
| Operation Bold Action | 20060410 | 20060410 | Tarmiya, near | Security: To provide more security near Tarmiya by chasing the terrorists |
| Operation Swift Sword | 20060426 | 20060429 | the villages and farms west of Bayji | Counterinsurgency: The operation resulted in the capture of 17 suspected insurgents and the confiscation of a cache of weapons. The cache included more than 100 artillery rounds, mortar rounds, mines, rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles, and 4,500 rounds of ammunition |
| Battle of Diwaniya | 20060428 | 20060428 | Diwaniya | Counterinsurgency: Battle between the Mahdi Army and the Iraqi Army |
| Operation Babil Perimeter | 20060428 | 200605?? | Al Hayy | Counterinsurgency: Detained five known insurgents and found some weapons caches |
| Operation Lion Hunt | 20060429 | 200605?? | Mosul | Counterinsurgency: Designed to remove the insurgents from the region making the area safer and to train the Iraqi police |
| Operation Dragons Breath | 200605?? | 200605?? | Ramadi | Counterinsurgency: Search for weapons caches and insurgents |
| Operation Lion Hunt II | 200605?? | 200606?? | Ninewah province | Counterinsurgency: To further develop the Iraq police in cordons and searches while reducing the insurgency in the Ninewah province |
| Operation Stallion Run | 200605?? | 200605?? | Baghdad | Security and Counterinsurgency: The operation was focused on clearing the roads of bombs and the debris that could hide them |
| Operation Lion | 20060504 | 20060504 | Mosul | Counterinsurgency: A cordon and search operation |
| Operation Lightning Blitz | 20060505 | 20060507 | ||
| Operation Tropical Lightning | 20060506 | 20060506 | Counterinsurgency: | |
| Operation Unified Front | 20060506 | 20060506 | Ameriya | Counterinsurgency: An effort to capture anti-Iraqi forces and seize weapons caches in the neighborhood of Ameriya |
| Operation Lofty Summit | 20060507 | 20060507 | Mushada | Security: Coalition forces will stage out of the same patrol base as the 11th Special Infrastructure Battalion, a specialized Iraqi army unit that protects an oil pipeline running through Mushada. |
| Operation Iron Triangle | 20060509 | 20060511 | Tikrit | Counterinsurgency: The operation resulted in the detention of 200 suspected terrorists and the confiscation of weapons and propaganda materials at an insurgent training camp southwest of the city. |
| Operation Barnstormer | 20060516 | 20060518 | Karbala, Wassit, Babil, Baghdad, Diyala, Ninewa and Dohuk | Humanitarian: To protect key staple crops from insect damage in several Iraq provinces |
| Operation Chepultepec | 20060524 | 20060524 | the Ubaydah region of Southern Lutafiyah | Counterinsurgency: Iraqi Police and Coalition Forces provided the outer cordon around the 80 square kilometer area while the Iraqi Army advanced to their objective to drive the terrorists from the region. |
| Operation Tinto | 20060525 | 20060525 | Basrah | Counterinsurgency: Was a search and arrest mission |
| Operation Coolspring VIII | 2006???? | 20060509 | Mosul | Counterinsurgency: Three men of military age previously on the Iraqi Army's most wanted list were detained in searches of a wide area south of the city. |
| Operation Roaring Tiger | 20060603 | 20060603 | Baghdad, Adhamiyah district | Counterinsurgency: The operation captured 19 suspected insurgents |
| Operation Cool Carpet | 20060609 | 20060609 | Gharmah | Humanitarian: To deliver prayer rugs along with two new air conditioning units |
| Operation Together Forward | 20060614 | 20061024 | Baghdad | Security: One of the largest combined security operations in the city since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 |
| Battle of Ramadi (2006) | 20060617 | 20061115 | Ramadi | Peacekeeping: The objective of the operation was to take full control of a city that had been out of the hands of the American military for the better part of two years. |
| Operation Sand Storm | 20060626 | 20060626 | Ayn Mana | Counterinsurgency: To seek out illicit weapons and insurgent forces |
| Operation Iron Gate | 200606?? | 200607?? | Hawija and Riyadh | Counterinsurgency: Observe and prevent illegal border crossing's from Iran |
| Operation Relentless Hunt | 200607?? | 200608?? | Hawija and Riyadh | |
| Operation Gaugamela | 20060720 | 200607?? | Hawija and Riyadh | Counterinsurgency: A search for suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in towns just west of Kirkuk |
| Operation River Falcon | 20060725 | 20060727 | Sayifiyeh | Counterinsurgency: The operation was aimed at denying terrorists the use of the town as a safe haven, disrupting insurgent attacks on Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces, and on collecting and destroying insurgent munitions |
| Operation Thundercat | 20060726 | 20060730 | Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: To disrupt and destroy the insurgency in and around Baghdad |
| Operation Floodlight | 200608?? | 20060809, on or about | Fallujah | Counterinsurgency: To locate insurgents and weapons targeting coalition and Iraqi forces south of the city |
| Operation Guardian Tiger IV | 200608?? | 200608?? | Haditha Triad region’s | Counterinsurgency: Captured more than 30 suspected insurgents |
| Operation Passage | 20060820 | 20060820 | Al Magrab, near Mosul | Counterinsurgency: an Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and U.S. Army joint forces mission |
| Operation Rubicon | 20060825 | 20060825 | Husayba | Humanitarian: A combat mission when they stopped to give the refreshments to the kids |
| Operation Constant Solidarity | 20060901 | 20060901 | Diwaniyah | Counterinsurgency: To weed out more than 2,000 terrorists in and around the city |
| Operation Yorktown | 20060926 | 20060926 | Al Anbar Province | Security and Law enforcement: To develop the Iraqi Security Forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic government reforms, and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi reconstruction |
| Battle of Al Rumaythah | 20060926 | 20060926 | Al Rumaythah | Contact between Australian forces from Overwatch Battle Group (West) and unidentified insurgents. |
| Operation Iron Arrow II | 20060930 | 20060930 | Obeidi region | Security: An IA-led effort aimed at establishing security in the northern portion of the region on the Shia side |
| Operation Commando Hunter | 20061002 | 200610?? | Yusufiyah | Counterinsurgency: Was intended to deny terrorists sanctuary in the city 20 mi (30 km) southwest of Baghdad |
| Operation SOUK | 20061002 | 20061002 | Fallujah | Counterinsurgency: A cordon and search mission |
| Operation Half Nelson | 20061004 | 20061004 | Hurriyah | Peacekeeping and Counterinsurgency: An attempt to build trust with Iraqi civilians and eliminate terrorists |
| Operation Medusa | 20061004 | 20061004 | Mosul | |
| Operation Benefit Day | 20061011 | 20061011 | Baghdad | Humanitarian: Marines and Iraqi Security Forces passed out backpacks full of school supplies to the children |
| Operation Dealer | 20061012 | 20061012 | Ramadi | Security: Was undertaken to establish a combat outpost in the area. |
| Battle of Amarah | 20061019 | 20061020 | Amarah | Battle: Began when 800 masked members of the Mahdi army stormed three police stations in Amarah |
| Operation Helping Hand | 20061021 | 20061021 | Tuz | Humanitarian: Delivered basic food staples to about 300 Kurd, Turkmen and Arab families |
| Battle of Fallujah(2006) | 20061107 | 20061223 | Fallujah | Battle: (See Operation Phantom Fury) |
| Operation Trifecta | 20061114 | 20061118 | Zaidon | Security and Counterinsurgency: Performed house-to-house searches and wide spread cache sweeps |
| Battle of Turki | 20061115 | 20061116 | Turki | Battle: Was fought over 40 hours between American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division and well trained insurgent forces. |
| Operation Talon | 200611120 | 20061120 | Fallujah, north of | Humanitarian and Counterinsurgency: Rescued 2 hostages and detained 13 suspected insurgents |
| Operation Polar Black Diamond | 20061125 | 20061125 | al Taca | Security and Counterinsurgency: Detained 10 terrorist suspects and found a cache of improvised explosive device components |
| Operation Polar Valor | 20061207 | 20061207 | ||
| Operation Cougar | 20061210 | 20061210 | Adhamiyah | Security and counterinsurgency: A cordon and search operation |
| Operation Arctic Sunrise | 20061216 | 20061216 | Baghdad, South of | Counterinsurgency: Removed a sizeable cache of bomb making material, detained 11 individuals believed to be involved in insurgent activities and improved the living conditions for the Iraqi people in the area |
| Operation Eagle Watch | 20061215 | 20061216 | Tikrit | Counterinsurgency: Fifteen suspects were detained in several locations near the city |
| Operation Moonlight (Alkamra Almaner) | 20061219 | 20061221 | Counterinsurgency: Netted a weapons cache and demonstrated the Iraqi Army soldiers’ ability to gather intelligence, plan, execute and exercise command and control during a large-scale operation | |
| Operation Gladiator | 20061223 | 20061223 | Baghdad | Counterinsurgency: To sweep the Al Doura market and clear the area so merchants can return and be safe |
| Operation Beastmaster | 20061229 | 20061229 | Baghdad, the western suburb of Ghazaliya | Counterinsurgency: Cleared three large neighborhoods which were the sights of much sectarian violence |
Read more about this topic: List Of Coalition Military Operations Of The Iraq War