US Marines Fighting in Umm Qasr, Iraq 2003

Umm Qasr (Arabic: أم قصر‎), is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf. It is separated from the border of Kuwait by a small inlet. A bridge across the waterway linked the port with Kuwait prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The Battle of Umm Qasr was the first military confrontation in the Iraq War. At the start of the war one of the first objectives was the port of Umm Qasr. On March 21, 2003, allied forces advanced across Southern Iraq and after an amphibious landing forces captured the new port area of Umm Qasr. They then spent several more days fighting through the old town of Umm Qasr encountering fierce resistance.

The assault on the town's port was spearheaded by Royal Marines of the British 3 Commando Brigade supplemented by Marines of the US 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Polish GROM troops. However, Iraqi forces put up unexpectedly strong resistance requiring several days' fighting before the area was cleared of defenders.[4] After the waterway was de-mined by a detachment from HM-14 and Naval Special Clearance Team ONE of the U.S. Navy and reopened, Umm Qasr played an important role in the shipment of humanitarian supplies to Iraqi civilians.[5]

The port was declared safe and reopened on March 25, 2003, after Royal Marines took over control of the port and conducted raids into the old part of town.

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[usmceflips]

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[lillie1990am]

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[olmedahenry]

ANY MANGOES AROUND HERE?

[SublimeShooterGamer]

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