Operation Dawn-10 or Walfajr-10[4] (Persian: عملیات والفجر ۱۰) was a large scale offensive operation launched during the Iran–Iraq War by Iran against Iraq on March 15, 1988 near the final stages of the war's conclusion. It was commanded by the Pasdaran along with the participation of some regular army forces as support. During Operation Dawn-10, Iran changed its operational area from southern to northern Iraq. The operation was started with the code of "Ya Rasūl Allāh (s)" (Persian: (یا رسول الله (ص)[5] (likewise "Ya Muhammad ibn Abdullah"),[6][7][1] and performed in 5 phases. [4]

Operation Dawn 10
Part of the Iran–Iraq War
Date15 March 1988
Location
Result Iranian victory
Territorial
changes
Iran captured 1,200 square kilometres of Iraqi territory, including 3 towns and 100+ villages
Belligerents
 Iraq Iran Iran
Supported by:
Kurdistan Region Peshmerga
Commanders and leaders
Ba'athist Iraq Saddam Hussein Ba'athist Iraq Kokeb Mohammad Amin
Ba'athist Iraq Abdul-Wahid Shannan ar-Ribat
Ba'athist Iraq Hisham Fakhri
Iran Ayatollah Khomeni
Iran Mohsen Rezaee
Iran Ali Sayad Shirazi Iran Ali Shamkhani
Iran Yahya Rahim Safavi
Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
10,000+ killed or wounded
5,440 captured
270 tanks destroyed [1][2]
3,000 killed [3]

The battle edit

Operation Dawn-10[8][9] was executed on the west heights overlooking Darbandikhan Lake in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate in Iraq[5] with the operational goal of preparing a full-on assault on the Darbandikhan Dam.[10] [11] Iranian forces quickly encircled their main objectives with ease, and the Iraqis did not have the time to reinforce the threatened area. The siege caught Iraqi forces completely off guard, as they were expecting an attack from the southern front, from where Iran mainly operated. This failure cost Iraq thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, armoured vehicles, and equipment,[12] whereas Iran sustained much fewer losses itself.[13]

Aftermath edit

Overall, it led to the capture of 3 towns[5] and around 100 villages[14] in the 1200 square kilometer operational area,[15] including Halabja, Kharmal, Biareh, and Tawileh. It is also claimed that the town of Nosud in Iran was retaken from Iraqi forces. The operation resulted in the death or injury of roughly 10,000 Iraqi forces[1] and the capture of 5440 more.[1][16] The offensive also caused important Iraqi divisions from the south to be diverted to the northern Iraqi mountains, disrupting the overall war effort. As a direct result of the Kurdish involvement in the battle, Saddam ordered the Iraqi military to chemically bombard Halabja, killing thousands of civilians and completely destroying the town.[17]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Shahid Qahreman Mahdi-Zadeh -- Operation Dawn-10". dana.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Operation Dawn-10 (Halahbja)". ashoora.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  3. ^ https://www.mehrnews.com/amp/297655/
  4. ^ a b "Operation Walfajr 10 (Dawn 10)". portal.anhar.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "WalFajr-10 operation -- Halabja liberation and chemical attacks by the Iraqi Ba'ath regime". irna.ir. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Liberation -- Operation Walfajr-10 (Dawn-10)". iqna.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Holy Defense, operation Walfajr-10". defamoghaddas.ir. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Untold words from "Operation Walfajr-10"". tabnak.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Documentary of operation dawn 10 (Walfajr-10)". aparat.com. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  10. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20180720165525/http://pmrk.ir/amalyatha/2.html
  11. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20180720140037/http://www.ashoora.ir/%D8%AF%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%87%D8%A7/1382-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1-10-%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A8%DA%86%D9%87.html
  12. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20180720140001/http://www.negineiran.ir/article_3157_10.html
  13. ^ https://www.mehrnews.com/amp/297655/
  14. ^ "Halabja conquest, Operation Walfajr-10 (Dawn-10)". defapress.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Walfajr-10 Operation". roshd.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Operation Dawn-10 (Halahbja)". ashoora.ir. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  17. ^ https://www.irna.ir/news/82865001/%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B110-%D8%A2%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A8%DA%86%D9%87-%D9%88-%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B4%DB%8C%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D8%B1%DA%98%DB%8C%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AB-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82