Battle of the Karbala Gap (2003)

Battle of the Karbala Gap
	Part of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
	; Destroyed Iraqi Lion of Babylon tank on Highway 9 south of Karbala Gap
Date	2–4 April 2003
Location	Outside Karbala and Al Musayib, Iraq
Result	U.S. victory
Belligerents
United States	Iraq
Commanders and leaders
Maj. Gen. Buford Blount II	Lt. Gen. Ra'ad al-Hamdani; Faiq Abdullah Mikbas; Riyadh Hussein Nayeri; Hamid Ismail Darash; Colonel Hassani; Rukan Ujaili; Lieutenant-Colonel Qais
Strength
US 3rd Infantry Division	Iraqi Republican Guard Medina and Nizar Divisions
Casualties and losses
1 Killed by friendly fire; unknown number wounded; 1 tank damaged	680–940 Killed in action;; Unknown captured/wounded; Hundreds of armored vehicles destroyed

The Battle of the Karbala Gap occurred during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Karbala Gap is a 20–25-mile wide strip of land with the Euphrates River to the east and Lake Razazah to the west. This strip of land was recognized by Iraqi commanders as a key approach to Baghdad, and was defended by the Medina and Bakhtnisar Divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard. American forces attacked Iraqi forces in the area with massive air attacks followed by concentrated armored thrusts which resulted in the Iraqi units being surrounded and annihilated.

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