2004 in Iraq

See also: 2004, Iraq, Occupation of Iraq, 2005 in Iraq

Events

January

• January 10 - Protests in the city of Amarah because of an unemployment crisis. Police officers and soldiers open fire on demonstrators.
• January 15 - The United Nations call direct elections in advance of July impractical, due to continuing disorder and other factors.
• January 18 - A suicide bomber blew up a pickup truck packed with 1,000 pounds of explosives outside the headquarters of the US led coalition killing about 20 people and injuring more than 60 - most of them Iraqis.

February

• February 1 - Two suicide bombers kill 109 and wound 235 at two Kurdish buildings in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil.
• February 3 - The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
• February 7 - Charles, Prince of Wales begins a tour of the Middle East, visiting troops in Iraq.
• February 10 - At least 50 people killed in a car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad.
• February 11 - Up to 47 people killed in a car bomb attack on an army recruiting centre in Baghdad.
• February 21 - The U.S. permits the Red Cross to visit Saddam Hussein for first time since his capture in December.

March

• March 2 - Almost 200 are killed in a series of bomb blasts in Baghdad and Karbala at the climax of the Shi'a festival of Aashurah.
• March 8
  • The governing council unanimously approves the country's new interim constitution
  • Abu Abbas dies in U.S. custody from natural causes.
• March 31 - Four American defense contractors are attacked and killed in Fallujah and teir burned bodies are hung openly from a bridge.

April

Proposed and abandoned flag, 2004

• April 2 Al Sadr gives a heated sermon, which leads to the uprising of the Mahdi army.
• April 4 - Operation Vigilant Resolve begins in response to the mutilation on March 31 in Fallujah. U.S. coalition forces face tough opposition as the resistance uses Soviet-style defense in depth tactics.
• April 5 - U.S. forces seal off Fallujah
• April 7
  • U.S. forces fired upon a mosque compound in Fallujah. Officials claim that it was being used by insurgents to fire RPGs and mortars. Fox
  • After three days of fighting, the U.S. forces are only able to secure 75% of Fallujah in Operation Vigilant Resolve.
  • ar Ramadi is returned to the control of the Iraqi Police Services and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.
• April 8 The Mahdi army has taken full control in Kut and partial control of Najaf, Karbala and Kufa.
• April 9 A civilian fuel convoy operated by private contractors Halliburton and Kellogg, Brown and Root is ambushed en route to Baghdad International Airport. The Mahdi Army is believed to be responsible for the attack. 7 civilians and several US Army Soldiers were killed in the attack. One of the truck drivers and one Soldier are still missing.
• April 10 The U.S. forces declare a unilateral cease fire in Fallujah. Although the U.S. forces fight when provoked, they do not move to take more area.
• April 16 Kut is retaken by coalition forces, but Najaf, Karabla and Kufa remain under control by Al Sadr.
• April 20 12 mortars were fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents. 22 detainees were killed and 92 wounded. [1]
• April 21 - At least 68 people are killed and dozens wounded in Iraq in suicide attacks on police stations in Basra and Az Zubayr.
• April 26 - The Iraq Interim Governing Council announced a new flag for post-Saddam Iraq. The flag is later abandoned among sentiments that it looks too much like Israel's flag.
• April 29
  • The U.S. Marines announce it will pull out of Fallujah over a two or three week period and hand over control to the Iraqi army.
  • At least 600 civilians have been killed during the American attack on Falluja
  • 8 U.S. soldiers are killed and 4 wounded in a car bomb attack near Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad.

May

• May 28 - Iyad Allawi is chosen as the prime minister for the interim Iraqi government. The handover is scheduled to take place on June 30.

June

The new flag of Iraq

• June 28 - Two days ahead of schedule, control and sovereignty of Iraq is handed over from the United States to an interim Iraqi government. Allawi becomes the prime minister, and Paul Bremer leaves the country. A slightly modified form of the flag is used.

July

• July - At a press conference, Prime Minister Allawi announces the creation of the General Security Directorate, a domestic intelligence agency.

August

August 8 - United States Marine Jonathan Collins of Crystal Lake, Illinois was KIA in Al Ramadi, located in the Al Anbar Province

September

October

• October 1 - An early morning coordinated invasion of Samarra by 3,000 US troops and 2,000 Iraqi troops begins. Iraqis take two religious sites by force. Americans claim to have killed as many as 125 insurgents.
• October 10 - Tawhid and Jihad claims responsibility for two car bombs in Baghdad, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier, and wounding at least 16.
• October 12 - Army of Ansar al-Sunna claims to have beheaded Alaa al-Maliki. They claim he was a spy for the United States and Muqtada Al Sadr.
• October 12
  • Germany's defense minister, Peter Struck, indicated that Germany might deploy troops in Iraq if conditions there change. This gesture appears to provide backing for John Kerry, the US Democratic presidential challenger.
  • Iraqi government soldiers supported by U.S. Marine and Army units raid seven mosques in Ramadi, detaining four people and seizing bomb-making materials and pro-insurgent literature. The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical group suspected of links to the insurgency, condemned the mosque raids as an example of alleged American hostility toward Islam.
• October 13
  • A suicide attack and roadside bombings kills six American soldiers.
  • Brigades of Abu Bakr Al-Sidiq, believed to be linked to al-Zarqawi, release a video via internet showing the beheading of two Iraqis: Fadhel Ibrahim and Firas Imeil. The two victims say they are members of the Iraqi National Intelligence and were captured September 28.
  • U.S. troops swept into the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi and joined Iraqi police and National Guardsmen in raids in Baqouba.
  • Prime Minister Allawi tells the Iraqi National Council that if people in Fallujah do not hand over al-Zarqawi and his followers, "we will carry out operations in Fallujah."
  • Investigators uncovered more than 100 bodies in a mass grave near the northern Iraqi village of Hatra. The bodies were believed to be Kurds killed during Saddam's crackdown in 1987-1988. The bodies includes those of small children and their mothers with bulletholes in their skulls. [2]
  • Saddam Hussein underwent surgery about two weeks ago to repair a hernia and is reported to have made a full recovery today.
• October 14
  • Two suicide bombers penetrate the highly guarded green zone in Baghdad and detonate bombs in their backpacks. 5 are killed, 4 of them Americans. 20 others are wounded. Tawhid and Jihad, a group connected to al-Zarqawi, claim responsibility. The bombers are reportedly Jordanians. This is the first successful attack in the green zone. AP
  • Ansar al-Sannah Army posts a video shoing the beheading of a Turkish driver. AP
  • U.S. warplanes strike three sites in Fallujah, supposedly being used by al-Zarqawi. The Fallujah General Hospital reports 5 dead and 16 wounded from the attacks. AP
  • A delegation from Fallujah suspended negotiations with the Iraqi Interim Government. Abu Asaad, spokesmen for the religious council of Fallujah, said that they couldn't meet the demands of prime minister Allawi to hand over al-Zarqawi. "Since we exhausted all peaceful solutions, the city is now ready to bear arms and defend its religion and honor and it's not afraid of Allawi's statements," Asaad said in a live interview with Al-Jazeera television. Because Abu Asaad used the word "suspend", there is some hope for a continuation. AP
  • The U.S. responds to the suspension of talks with more air, artillery, and ground attacks. AP
• October 15
  • The holy Muslim holiday of Ramadan begins. Coalition forces faced an increase in resistance during last year's Ramadan, and expect an increase of violence this year in Iraq.
  • A platoon in the 343rd Quartermaster Company refuses orders to convoy supplies from Tallil, Iraq to Taji, Iraq, citing safety concerns. They claim that their vehicles were unsafe and that the convoy isn't adequately protected. The Army launches an investigation. AP
• October 25
  • Nearly 380 tons of conventional high-explosives are found missing from an Iraqi site formerly used by Saddam Hussein for his dismantled atom bomb program, that was never secured by the U. S. Army. It is reported by MSNBC that the site was looted in April 2003, before coalition troops reached the area. US troops reported at the time that the explosives were missing. MSNBC

November

• The US Marines launched the bloodiest offensive of the Iraq War on November 7th 2004, Operation Phantom Fury against the insurgency in the city of Fallujah.
• The Iraqi Red Crescent estimate that more than 6000 civilians are killed in the fighting inside and around Falluja the first three weeks of the battle. 250000 people are reported as being internally displaced as a result of the resumed fighting in the city.
• The death toll for U.S. Marines was 136, with more than four times as many Marines injured at the end of November.
• Commonly referred to as "...The heaviest Urban Combat seen by U.S. Forces since Hue City, Vietnam 1968...".

December

• On December 21 a huge explosion rocked a US-base in the northern city of Mosul killing 22 people (14 U.S. soldiers, 4 U.S. contractors and 4 Iraqi National guards) and wounding more than 70 people. At first, there were reports of a rocket attack but later it was said to be a suicide bomber. The Ansar al-Sunnah army in Iraq claimed responsibility. It was the deadliest single-attack on Americans (soldiers and civilians) in Iraq since the war ended on May 1st 2003.
• Also on December 21, the French hostages Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot were released, who where taken hostage since August.

Deaths

• January 24 - Abdul Rahman Munif, author
• March 8 - Abu Abbas, terrorist

Categories

Find

Find