text: battle of khafji the battle of khafji was the first major ground engagement of the gulf war . it took place in and around the saudi arabian city of khafji , from 29 january to 1 february 1991 and marked the culmination of the coalition 's air campaign over kuwait and iraq , which had begun on 17 january 1991 . iraqi leader saddam hussein , who had already tried and failed to draw coalition troops into costly ground engagements by shelling saudi positions and oil storage tanks and firing scud surface - to - surface missiles at israel , ordered the invasion of saudi arabia from southern kuwait . the 1st and 5th mechanized divisions and 3rd armored division were ordered to conduct a multi - pronged invasion toward khafji , engaging american , saudi and qatari forces along the coastline . these three divisions , which had been heavily damaged by coalition aircraft in the preceding days , attacked on 29 january . most of their attacks were repulsed by u.s. marines as well as u.s. army rangers and coalition aircraft , but one of the iraqi columns occupied khafji on the night of 29 – 30 january . between 30 january and 1 february , two saudi arabian national guard battalions and two qatari tank companies attempted to retake control of the city , aided by coalition aircraft and american artillery . by 1 february , the city had been recaptured at the cost of 43 coalition servicemen dead and 52 wounded . iraqi army fatalities numbered between 60 and 300 , while an estimated 400 were captured as prisoners of war . although the invasion of khafji was initially a propaganda victory for the ba 'athist iraqi government , it was swiftly recaptured by saudi and qatari ground forces . the battle serves as a modern demonstration that air power in a supporting role to ground forces can be of great assistance in halting and defeating a major ground operation . background on 2 august 1990 , the iraqi army invaded and occupied the neighboring state of kuwait . the invasion , which followed the inconclusive iran – iraq war and three decades of political conflict with kuwait , offered saddam hussein the opportunity to distract political dissent at home and add kuwait 's oil resources to iraq 's own , a boon in a time of declining petroleum prices . in response , the united nations began to pass a series of resolutions demanding the withdrawal of iraqi forces from kuwait . afraid that saudi arabia would be invaded next , the saudi government requested immediate military aid . as a result , the united states began marshalling forces from a variety of nations , styled the coalition , on the arabian peninsula . initially , saddam hussein attempted to deter coalition military action by threatening kuwait 's and iraq 's petroleum production and export . in december 1990 , iraq experimented with the use of explosives to destroy in the area of the ahmadi loading complex , developing their capability to destroy kuwait 's petroleum infrastructure on a large scale . on 16 january , iraqi artillery destroyed an oil storage tank in khafji , saudi arabia , and on 19 january the pumps at the ahmadi loading complex were opened , pouring crude oil into the persian gulf . the oil flowed into the sea at a rate of 200 , 000 barrels a day , becoming one of the worst ecological disasters to that date . despite these iraqi threats , the coalition launched a 38 - day aerial campaign on 17 january 1991 . flying an estimated 2 , 000 sorties a day , coalition aircraft rapidly crippled the iraqi air defense systems and effectively destroyed the iraqi air force , whose daily sortie rate plummeted from a prewar level of an estimated 200 per day to almost none by 17 january . on the third day of the campaign , many iraqi pilots fled across the iranian border in their aircraft rather than be destroyed . the air campaign also targeted command - and - control sites , bridges , railroads , and petroleum storage facilities . saddam hussein , who is believed to have said , " the air force has never decided a war , " nevertheless worried that the air campaign would erode iraq 's national morale . the iraqi leader also believed that the united states would not be willing to lose many troops in action , and therefore sought to draw coalition ground troops into a decisive battle . in an attempt to provoke a ground battle , he directed iraqi forces to launch scud missiles against israel , while continuing to threaten the destruction of oilfields in kuwait . these efforts were unsuccessful in provoking a large ground battle , so saddam hussein decided to launch a limited offensive into saudi arabia with the aim of inflicting heavy losses on the coalition armies . as the air campaign continued , the coalition 's expectations of an iraqi offensive decreased . as a result , the united states redeployed the xviii airborne corps and the vii corps 480 kilometers ( 300 mi ) to the west . the coalition 's leadership believed that should an iraqi force go on the offensive , it would be launched from the al - oil fields , in southern kuwait . order of battle the iraqi army had between 350 , 000 and 500 , 000 soldiers in theater , organized into 51 divisions , including eight republican guard divisions . republican guard units normally received the newest equipment ; for example , most of the estimated 1 , 000 t - 72 tanks in the iraqi army on the eve of the war were in republican guard divisions . the iraqi army in the kuwaiti theater of operations ( ) also included nine heavy divisions , composed mostly of professional soldiers , but with weapons of a generally lesser grade than those issued to the republican guard . most non - republican guard armored units had older tank designs , mainly the t - 55 or its chinese equivalents , the type 59 and type 69 . the remaining 34 divisions were composed of poorly trained conscripts . these divisions were deployed to channel the coalition 's forces through a number of break points along the front , allowing the iraqi army 's heavy divisions and the republican guard units to isolate them and counterattack . however , the iraqis left their western flank open , failing to account for tactics made possible by the global positioning system and other new technologies . in saudi arabia , the coalition originally deployed over 200 , 000 soldiers , 750 aircraft and 1 , 200 tanks . this quickly grew to 3 , 600 tanks and over 600 , 000 personnel , of whom over 500 , 000 were from the united states . iraqi forces for the offensive into saudi arabia was the iraqi third corps , the 1st mechanized division from fourth corps and a number of commando units . third corps , commanded by major general salah mahmoud ( who would also command the overall offensive ) , had 3rd armored division and 5th mechanized division , as well as a number of infantry divisions . fourth corps ' commander was major general zaki . the 3rd armored division had a number of t - 72 tanks , the only non - republican guard force to have them , while the other armored battalions had t - 62s and t - 55s , a few of which had an iraqi appliqué armor similar to the soviet bulging armor also known as " brow " laminate armor or . during the battle of khafji , these upgraded t - 55s survived impacts from milan anti - tank missiles . these divisions also had armored personnel vehicles such as the bmp - 1 , scout vehicles such as the - 2 , and several types of artillery . also deployed along this portion of the front , though not chosen to participate in the invasion , were five infantry divisions that were under orders to remain in their defensive positions along the border . u.s. marine corps reconnaissance estimated that the iraqi army had amassed around 60 , 000 troops across the border , near the kuwaiti town of , in as many as 5 or 6 divisions . infantry divisions normally consisted of three brigades with an attached commando unit , although some infantry divisions could have up to eight brigades – however most infantry divisions along the border were understrength , primarily due to desertion . armored and mechanized divisions normally made use of three brigades , with each brigade having up to four combat battalions ; depending on the division type , these were generally a three to one mix , with either three mechanized battalions and one armored battalion , or vice versa . given the size of the forces deployed across the border , it is thought that the iraqi army planned to continue the offensive , after the successful capture of khafji , in order to seize the valuable oil fields at dammam . the attack would consist of a four - prong offensive . the 1st mechanized division would pass through the 7th and 14th infantry divisions to protect the flank of the 3rd armored division , which would provide a blocking force west of khafji while the 5th mechanized division took the town . the 1st mechanized and 3rd armored divisions would then retire to kuwait , while the 5th mechanized division would wait until the coalition launched a counteroffensive . the principal objectives were to inflict heavy casualties on the attacking coalition soldiers and take prisoners of war , who saddam hussein theorized would be an excellent bargaining tool with the coalition . as the units moved to the saudi border , many were attacked by coalition aircraft . around the al - wafrah forest , about 1 , 000 iraqi armored fighting vehicles were attacked by harrier aircraft with rockeye cluster bombs . another iraqi convoy of armored vehicles was hit by a - 10s , which destroyed the first and last vehicles , before systematically attacking the stranded remainders . such air raids prevented the majority of the iraqi troops deployed for the offensive from taking part in it . coalition forces during the buildup of forces , the united states had built observation posts along the kuwaiti - saudi border to gather intelligence on iraqi forces . these were manned by united states navy seals , marine corps force reconnaissance and army special forces personnel . observation post 8 was farthest to the east , on the coast , and another seven observation posts were positioned each 20 km ( 12 mi ) until the end of the " heel " , the geographic panhandle of southernmost kuwait . observation posts 8 and 7 overlooked the coastal highway that ran to khafji , considered the most likely invasion route of the city . 1st marine division had three companies positioned at observation posts 4 , 5 and 6 ( task force shepard ) , while the 2nd marine division 's 2nd light armored infantry battalion set up a screen between observation post 1 and the al - wafrah oil fields . the u.s. army 's 2nd armored division provided its 1st tiger brigade to give the marines some much needed armored support . the saudis gave responsibility for the defense of khafji to the 2nd saudi arabian national guard brigade and a qatari armored battalion , attached to task force abu bakr . the 5th battalion of the 2nd saudi arabian national guard brigade set up a screen north and west of khafji , under observation post 7 . at the time , a saudi arabian national guard brigade could have up to four motorized battalions , each with three line companies . the brigade had a nominal strength of an estimated 5 , 000 soldiers . the saudis also deployed the tariq task force , composed of saudi arabian marines and a battalion of moroccan infantry . two further task forces , othman and omar task forces , consisted of two mechanized ministry of defense and aviation brigades , providing screens about 3 km ( 1 . 9 mi ) south of the border . the country 's main defenses were placed 20 km ( 12 mi ) south of the screen . the majority of the arab contingent was led by general khaled bin sultan . the forces around khafji were organized into the joint forces command - east , while joint forces command - north defended the border between observation post 1 and the kuwaiti - iraqi border . battle on 27 january 1991 , iraqi president saddam hussein met in basra with the two iraqi army corps commanders who would lead the operation , and major general salah mahmoud told him that khafji would be his by 30 january . during his return trip to baghdad , saddam hussein 's convoy was attacked by coalition aircraft ; the iraqi leader escaped unscathed . throughout 28 january , the coalition received a number of warnings suggesting an impending iraqi offensive . the coalition was flying two brand - new e - 8a joint surveillance target attack radar system ( joint stars ) aircraft , which picked up the deployment and movement of iraqi forces to the area opposite of khafji . observation posts 2 , 7 and 8 also detected heavy iraqi reconnoitering along the border , and their small teams of air - naval gunfire liaison marines called in air and artillery strikes throughout the day . lieutenant colonel richard barry , commander of the forward headquarters of the 1st surveillance , reconnaissance and intelligence group , sent warnings about an impending attack to central command . leaders were too preoccupied with the air campaign to heed them however , and so the iraqi operation came as a surprise . beginning of iraqi offensive : 29 january the iraqi offensive began on the night of 29 january , when approximately 2 , 000 soldiers in several hundred armored fighting vehicles moved south . the gulf war 's first ground engagement was near observation post 4 , built on the al - zabr police building . elements of the iraqi 6th armored brigade , ordered to take the heights above al - zabr , engaged coalition units at al - zabr . at 20 : 00 hours , u.s. marines at the observation post , who had noticed large groups of armored vehicles through their night vision devices , attempted to talk to battalion headquarters but received no response . contact was not established until 20 : 30 hours , which prompted task force shepard to respond to the threat . coalition soldiers at observation post 4 opened fire on the iraqi column , but this largely ineffective fire drew a heavy iraqi response which forced the company to retire south , by order of its commanding officer . to cover the withdrawal , the company 's platoon of lav - 25s and lav - ( anti - tank variants ) moved to engage the iraqi force . one of the anti - tank vehicles opened fire , after receiving permission , at what it believed was an iraqi tank . instead , the missile destroyed a friendly lav - at a few hundred meters in front of it . despite this loss , the platoon continued forward and soon opened fire on the iraqi tanks with the lav - 25s ' autocannons . the fire could not penetrate the tanks ' armor , but did damage their optics and prevented the tanks from fighting back effectively . soon thereafter , a number of a - 10 ground - attack aircraft arrived but found it difficult to pinpoint enemy targets and began dropping flares to illuminate the zone . one of these flares landed on a friendly vehicle , and although the vehicle radioed in its position , it was hit by an agm - 65 maverick air - to - ground missile that killed the entire crew except for the driver . following the incident , the company was withdrawn and the remaining vehicles reorganized into another nearby company . with observation post 4 cleared , the iraqi 6th armored brigade withdrew over the border to al - wafrah under heavy fire from coalition aircraft . coalition forces had lost 11 troops to friendly fire and none to enemy action . while the events at observation post 4 were unfolding , the iraqi 5th mechanized division crossed the saudi border near observation post 1 . a company of the 2nd light infantry armored battalion , which was screening the iraqi unit , reported a column of 60 – 100 bmps . the column was engaged by coalition a - 10s and harrier jump jets . this was then followed by another column with an estimated 29 tanks . one of the column 's t - 62 tanks was engaged by an anti - tank missile and destroyed . coalition air support , provided by a - 10s and f - 16s , engaged the iraqi drive through observation post 1 and ultimately repulsed the attack back over the kuwaiti border . aircraft continued to engage the columns throughout the night , until the next morning . another column of iraqi tanks , approaching observation post 2 , were engaged by aircraft and also repulsed that night . an additional iraqi column crossed the saudi border to the east , although still along the coast , towards the city of khafji . these iraqi tanks were screened by the 5th mechanized battalion of the 2nd saudi arabian national guard brigade . this battalion withdrew when it came under heavy fire , as it had been ordered to not engage the iraqi column . elements of the 8th and 10th saudi arabian national guard brigades also conducted similar screening operations . due to the order to not engage , the road to khafji was left open . at one point , iraqi t - 55s of another column rolled up to the saudi border , signaling that they intended to surrender . as they were approached by saudi arabian troops , they reversed their turrets and opened fire . this prompted air support from a nearby ac - 130 , destroying 13 vehicles . nevertheless , the iraqi advance towards khafji continued on this sector , despite repeated attacks from an ac - 130 . attempts by the saudi commanders to call in additional air strikes on the advancing iraqi column failed when the requested heavy air support never arrived . khafji was occupied by approximately 00 : 30 on 30 january , trapping two six - man reconnaissance teams from the 1st marine division in the city . the teams occupied two apartment buildings in the southern sector of the city and called artillery fire on their position to persuade the iraqis to call off a search of the area . throughout the night , coalition air support composed of helicopters and fixed - wing aircraft continued to engage iraqi tanks and artillery . initial response : 30 january distressed by the occupation of khafji , saudi commander general khaled bin sultan appealed to american general norman schwarzkopf for an immediate air campaign against iraqi forces in and around the city . however this was turned down because the buildings will make it difficult for aircraft to spot targets without getting too close . it was instead decided that the city would be retaken by arab ground forces . the task fell to the 2nd saudi arabian national guard brigade 's 7th battalion , composed of saudi infantry and two qatari tank companies attached to the task force . these were supported by u.s. army special forces and marine reconnaissance personnel . the force was put under the command of saudi lieutenant colonel matar , who moved out by 17 : 00 hours . the force met up with elements of the u.s. 3rd marine regiment , south of khafji , and were ordered to directly attack the city . the engagement of that night was to be the first battle the qatari army had seen in its entire history . a platoon of iraqi t - 55s attacked a qatari tank company south of the city , leading to the destruction of three t - 55s by qatari amx - 30s , and the capture of a fourth iraqi tank . lacking any coordinated artillery support , artillery fire was provided by the 10th marine regiment . an initial attack on the city was called off after the iraqi occupants opened up with heavy fire , prompting the saudis to reinforce the 7th battalion with two more companies from adjacent saudi units . the attempt to retake the city had been preceded by a 15 - minute preparatory fire from u.s. marine artillery . however iraqi fire did manage to destroy one saudi v - 150 armored personnel carrier . meanwhile , 2nd saudi arabian national guard brigade 's 5th battalion moved north of khafji to block iraqi reinforcements attempting to reach the city . this unit was further bolstered by the 8th ministry of defense and aviation brigade , and heavily aided by coalition air support . although fear of friendly fire forced the 8th ministry of defense and aviation brigade to pull back the following morning , coalition aircraft successfully hindered iraqi attempts to move more soldiers down to khafji and caused large numbers of iraqi troops to surrender to saudi forces . that night , two u.s. army heavy equipment transporters entered the city of khafji , apparently lost , and were fired upon by iraqi troops . although one truck managed to turn around and escape , the two drivers of the second truck were wounded and captured . this led to a rescue mission organized by 3rd battalion 3rd marine regiment , which sent a force of 30 men to extract the two wounded drivers . although encountering no major opposition , they did not find the two drivers who had , by this time , been taken prisoner . the marines did find a burnt out qatari amx - 30 , with its dead crew . that same night , a u.s. air force ac - 130 was shot down by an iraqi surface - to - air missile ( sam ) , killing the aircraft 's crew of 14 . the interdiction on the part of coalition aircraft and saudi and qatari ground forces was having an effect on the occupying iraqi troops . referring to saddam hussein 's naming of the ground engagement as the " mother of all battles " , iraqi general salah radioed in a request to withdraw , stating , " the mother was killing her children . " since the beginning of the battle , coalition aircraft had flown at least 350 sorties against iraqi units in the area and on the night of 30 – 31 january , coalition air support also began to attack units of the iraqi third corps assembled on the saudi border . recapture of khafji : 31 january – 1 february on 31 january , the effort to retake the city began anew . the attack was launched at 08 : 30 hours , and was met by inaccurate iraqi fire which knocked - out two saudi v - 150 wheeled vehicles . the 8th battalion of the saudi brigade was ordered to deploy to the city by 10 : 00 hours , while 5th battalion to the north engaged another column of iraqi tanks attempting to reach the city . the latter engagement led to the destruction of around 13 iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers , and the capture of 6 more vehicles and 116 iraqi soldiers , costing the saudi battalion two dead and two wounded . the 8th battalion engaged the city from the northeast , linking up with 7th battalion . these units cleared the southern portion of the city , until 7th battalion withdrew south to rest and rearm at 18 : 30 hours , while the 8th remained in khafji . the 8th continued clearing buildings and by the time the 7th had withdrawn to the south , the saudis had lost approximately 18 dead and 50 wounded , as well as seven v - 150 vehicles . coalition aircraft continued to provide heavy support throughout the day and night . a veteran of the iran - iraq war later mentioned that coalition airpower " imposed more damage on his brigade in half an hour than it had sustained in eight years of fighting against the iranians . " during the battle , an iraqi amphibious force was sent to land on the coast and move into khafji . as the boats made their way through the persian gulf towards khafji , american and british aircraft caught the iraqi boats in the open and largely destroyed the iraqi amphibious force . the saudi and qatari units renewed operations the following day . two iraqi companies , with about 20 armored vehicles , remained in the city and had not attempted to break out during the night . while the saudi 8th battalion continued operations in the southern portion of the city , the 7th battalion began to clear the northern sector of the city . iraqi resistance was sporadic and most iraqi soldiers surrendered on sight ; as a result , the city was recaptured on 1 february 1991 . aftermath during the battle , coalition forces incurred 43 fatalities and 52 injured casualties . this included 25 americans killed , 11 of them by friendly fire along with 14 airmen killed when their ac - 130 was shot down by iraqi sams . the americans also had two soldiers wounded and another two soldiers were captured in khafji . saudi and qatari casualties totaled 18 killed and 50 wounded . two qatari amx - 30s main battle tanks and between seven and ten lightly armored saudi v - 150s were knocked out . most of the were knocked out by rpg - 7 fire in close - range fighting inside the town of khafji , although one of the two that was a catastrophic kill was hit by a 100mm main gun round from a t - 55 . iraq listed its casualties as 71 dead , 148 wounded and 702 missing . u.s. sources present at the battle claim that 300 iraqis lost their lives , and at least 90 vehicles were destroyed . another source suggests that 60 iraqi soldiers were killed and at least 400 taken prisoner , while no less than 80 armored vehicles were knocked out ; however these casualties are attributed to the fighting both inside and directly north of khafji . whatever the exact casualties , the majority of three iraqi mechanized / armored divisions had been destroyed . the u.s. army 's 2nd armored division 's 1st tiger brigade claims 181 destroyed or captured enemy tanks , 148 apcs , 40 artillery pieces , 27 aa emplacements , 263 iraqi dead and 4 , 051 captured after 100 hours of combat . the iraqi capture of khafji was a major propaganda victory for iraq : on 30 january iraqi radio claimed that they had " expelled americans from the arab territory " . for many in the arab world , the battle of khafji was seen as an iraqi victory , and hussein made every possible effort to turn the battle into a political victory . on the other side , confidence within the united states armed forces in the abilities of the saudi and qatari armies increased as the battle progressed . after khafji , the coalition 's leadership began to sense that the iraqi army was a " hollow force " and it provided them with an impression of the degree of resistance they would face during the coalition 's ground offensive that would begin later that month . the battle was also a major propaganda victory for saudi arabia , which had successfully defended its territory . despite the success of the engagements between 29 january and 1 february , the coalition did not launch its main offensive into kuwait and iraq until the night of 24 – 25 february . the invasion of iraq was completed about 48 hours later . the battle of khafji served as a modern example of the ability of air power to serve a supporting role to ground forces . it offered the coalition an indication of the manner in which operation desert storm would be fought , but also hinted at future friendly - fire casualties which accounted for nearly half of the american dead .