Battle of Umm Qasr  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 21 March 2003, as allied forces advanced across Southern Iraq, an amphibious landing force captured the new port area of Umm Qasr. The assault was spearheaded by Royal Marines of the British 3 Commando Brigade, augmented by U.S. Marines of the American 15th MEU and Polish JW GROM troops. Iraqi forces in the old town of Umm Qasr put up unexpectedly strong resistance, requiring several days' fighting before the area was cleared of defenders. The port was finally declared safe and reopened on 25 March 2003. Umm Qasr consists of a densely inhabited town connected to a port, with a population of 43,000. The port's role grew during the Iran–Iraq War. Following the 1991 uprising in Basra, Saddam Hussein decided to punish Basra by focusing development on Umm Qasr. By 2003, it had a modern port with a large dock and a channel that could dock ocean-going ships. It handled 3500 tonnes of UN-organized oil-for-food humanitarian aid every day following the Gulf War. The task of capturing Umm Qasr was given to U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, who were under the command of Brigadier Jim Dutton,  There was an intelligence report that Iraqi T-72 tanks from the Republican Guard's, Medina Division, had been seen cutting off Umm Qasr from the main roads Basra and Safwan, so the U.S. Marines detached an armored unit to the 15th MEU in the event that the intelligence proved correct. The initial assault was carried out on 21 March by the 15th MEU and the British 26th Armored Engineer Squadron. The U.S. Marine convoy made of 20 vehicles received Iraqi small arms and mortar fire, forcing the lead company to call in supporting fire from the Royal Artillery, whose shells were eventually able to neutralize the mortar positions. The U.S. Marines withdrew from the area as they were too close to the target and, after 3 or 4 hours, the 15th MEU, reinforced by two Abrams tanks continued their advance to Umm Qasr. U.S. Marines entered the town and spread out towards the port. There was occasional small arms fire from Iraqi soldiers but no organized resistance and around 200 Iraqi soldiers surrendered.