Although tactical commanders in Iraq considered these deaths militarily insignificant, U.S. Journalist Jeremy Scahill later called this incident the Mogadishu moment of the Iraq War (referencing the Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the 'Black Hawk Down' incident). Images of their mutilated bodies were broadcast around the world. Shortly afterward, on 31 March 2004, four American private military contractors from Blackwater – Wesley Batalona, Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, and Michael Teague – were ambushed and killed in the city. 82nd Airborne Division to the 1st Marine Division. In February 2004, control of Fallujah and the surrounding area in the Al Anbar Governorate was transferred from the U.S. The Second Battle of Fallujah was the bloodiest battle of the entire conflict for American troops, and is notable for being the first major engagement of the Iraq War that was fought solely against insurgents as opposed to the government military forces of the former Ba'athist Iraq. When the coalition fought their way into the centre of the city, the Iraqi Interim Government requested that the city's control be transferred over to an Iraqi-run local security force, which then began stockpiling weapons and building complex defenses across the city through mid-2004. Earlier, in April 2004, coalition forces fought the First Battle of Fallujah in an attempt to capture or kill insurgent elements who were considered responsible for the 2004 Fallujah ambush, which resulted in the deaths of four private military contractors of Blackwater. Operation Phantom Fury was the second major coalition effort in Fallujah. military have been involved in since the Battle of Huế City in Vietnam in 1968'. Army, the battle was later described as 'some of the heaviest urban combat U.S. Within the city of Fallujah, the coalition was led by the U.S. Marking the highest point of the conflict against the Iraqi insurgency, it was a joint military effort carried out by the United States, the Iraqi Interim Government, and the United Kingdom. 'The Dawn'), was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that lasted roughly six weeks, starting 7 November 2004. The Second Battle of Fallujah, codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, and Operation al-Fajr ( Arabic: الفجر, lit.

2003 1st Baghdad 2nd Baghdad Najaf 3rd Baghdad 1st Nasiriyah 1st Karbala 2004 ‡ 1st Erbil ‡ Ashoura 1st Basra 1st Mosul 4th Baghdad 5th Baghdad Karbala & Najaf 1st Baqubah Kufa Marez 2005 Suwaira bombing ‡ 1st Al Hillah 2nd Erbil ‡ Musayyib 6th Baghdad ‡ 7th Baghdad 1st Balad Khanaqin 2006 ‡ Karbala-Ramadi 1st Samarra 8th Baghdad 9th Baghdad ‡ 10th Baghdad 2007 11th Baghdad 12th Baghdad ‡ 13th Baghdad 14th Baghdad 15th Baghdad ‡ 2nd Al Hillah ‡ 1st Tal Afar 16th Baghdad 17th Baghdad 2nd & 3rd Karbala 2nd Mosul ‡ 18th Baghdad Makhmour Abu Sayda 2nd Samarra 19th Baghdad ‡ Amirli 1st Kirkuk 20th Baghdad 21st Baghdad § Qahtaniya Amarah 2008 22nd Baghdad 2nd Balad 23rd Baghdad 4th Karbala 24th Baghdad Karmah 2nd Baqubah Dujail Balad Ruz 2009 25th Baghdad 26th Baghdad Baghdad-Muqdadiyah Taza 27th Baghdad 2nd Kirkuk 2nd Tal Afar ‡ 28th Baghdad ‡ 29th Baghdad ‡ 30th Baghdad 2010 31st Baghdad 32nd Baghdad 3rd Baqubah 33rd Baghdad 34th Baghdad 35th Baghdad ‡ 1st Pan-Iraq 36th Baghdad 37th Baghdad 2nd Pan-Iraq 38th Baghdad 39th Baghdad ‡ 40th Baghdad 2011 41st Baghdad ‡ 3rd Pan-Iraq Karbala-Baghdad 42nd Baghdad Tikrit 3rd Al Hillah 3rd Samarra Al Diwaniyah Taji 4th Pan-Iraq 43rd Baghdad 4th Karbala 44th Baghdad 2nd Basra 45th Baghdad § indicates the deadliest attack in the Iraq War ‡ indicates attacks resulting in over 100 deaths

2nd battle of fallujah phantom fury