Battle of the Palm Grove

Throughout mid-2010, Iraqi security forces reported increased activity by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in the strategic Diyala Governorate.^[2][3]: 65 Of particular concern was al-Hadayd [ar], a village 10 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Baqubah which security forces believed was being prepared by the ISI to serve as a launching pad for attacks. In response to this threat, and with intelligence on insurgent movements, Iraqi Ground Forces chief Lieutenant General Ali Ghaidan Majid approved the launch of Operation Nakhil, a four-day operation to neutralize ISI bomb-making teams in rural Diyala.^[3]: 65 It involved some 600 Iraqi personnel searching 21 towns across Diyala.^[2]

The Iraqi army imposed a curfew in al-Hadayd before commencing a search for ISI forces in a nearby palm grove on September 11, 2010.^{[3]: 65 [1]} The location was the size of an acre and filled with trenches and palm trees,^[1] known for being utilized by insurgents in a similar fashion to hedgerows in the Battle of Normandy.^[4] Commanders from seven Iraqi units as well as the minister of defense arrived in the area to oversee the operation.^[5]

The 19th Brigade of the Iraqi army ventured into the palm grove before they immediately came under sniper fire and grenade attacks from insurgents dug into trenches. Soldiers were moving in single-file lines, allowing insurgent snipers to pick off their leading officer and cause the rest to panic. The 19th Brigade received reinforcements but were unable to stymie the attacks.^[5][1]

By the evening of September 11, Iraqi forces had withdrew from the battle and requested assistance from the nearby 25th Infantry Division of the US Army.^[5][2] The 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, a unit of the division previously operating as a Stryker combat brigade before being tasked with an advisory role, was tasked with supporting the Iraqis.^[2] Brigade commander Colonel Malcolm B. Frost reported that a total of 49 American personnel were involved, including two Stryker platoons. A special forces contingent of between 10 to 25 soldiers^[2][1] from the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Arabian Peninsula, commanded by Colonel Mark E. Mitchell, was also involved.^[4]

The US military joined the battle on the morning of September 12.^[6] Upon the arrival of US Army Special Forces and the 5th Emergency Response Battalion of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces, they deliberated with the Iraqi and American commanders in charge and formulated a plan. A US Air Force joint terminal attack controller called in an airstrike on a building used by insurgents, one of two key ISI positions, which was destroyed by two bombs dropped from an F-16 fighter jet.^[7]

Colonel Malcolm B. Frost, commander of the 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade in the division, reported that 25 US soldiers and 200 Iraqi soldiers and police officers were involved in close-quarters combat during the battle, the former relegated to an "assisting and advising" role.^[8]

Major Dhalib Attiya of the Diyala Police said the ISI had placed bombs around the perimeter of the grove while snipers fired at soldiers from the palm trees.^[6]