The Battle of Diwaniya took place in
Al Diwaniyah
Al Diwaniyah ( ar, ٱلدِّيوَانِيَّة ''ad-Dīwānīyah''), also spelt Diwaniya, is the capital city of Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. In 2002 the population was estimated at 440,927.
Overview
The area around Al Diwaniyah, which i ...
, 180 kilometers (111 mi) south of Baghdad, on 28 August 2006 between the
Mahdi Army
The Peace Companies ( ar, سرايا السلام, or Saraya al Salam) are an Iraqi armed group linked to Iraq's Shia community. They are a 2014 revival of the Mahdi Army ( ''Jaysh al-Mahdī'') that was created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada a ...
and the
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...
.
The fighting erupted after coalition troops arrested a Sadr militia leader. The militia engaged in heavy street fighting with Iraqi soldiers which lasted late into the night. Militia fighters were entrenched in residential areas during the fighting. The Iraqi Army claims that most of its casualties occurred when Mahdi militiamen captured and executed a group of soldiers who had run out of ammunition.
[U.S. and Iraqi troops battle militants - International Herald Tribune]
/ref> By next morning a ceasefire was in place with 23 Iraqi soldiers, 20 militiamen and 7 civilians killed.
About a month and a half later on 9 October 2006 another battle broke out in the city, this time between the militia and the U.S. Army. Thirty militiamen were killed and a U.S. military tank was severely damaged.
See also
*Battle of Amarah
The Battle of Amarah took place from October 19 to October 20, 2006, between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi Security Forces, police, who were largely members of the Badr Organization.
Background
The city of Amarah was said to have been relatively pea ...
* Operation Black Eagle
*Operation Lion's Leap
Operation Lion's Leap was a joint US-Iraqi operation against the Mahdi Army in Diwaniyah, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad. The division-level operation was launched on 17 November 2007 by Iraqi Army and police forces, with a US brigade in support. ...
* U.S. Occupation of Iraq
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diwaniya
Battles of the Iraq War involving Iraq
Battles of the Iraq War in 2006
August 2006 events in Asia