Fallujah killings of April 2003
Encyclopedia
The Fallujah killings of April 2003 began when soldiers from the United States
1st Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division fired into a crowd of Iraq
i civilians who were protesting their presence at a school within the city of Fallujah
. The soldiers claimed they were receiving fire from the crowd. The civilians said they were shot at first.
On the evening of April 28, 2003, several hundred civilians ignored a curfew
imposed on them by the United States Armed Forces
. They proceeded to marched through the streets of Fallujah, past the soldiers positioned in the Ba'ath party headquarters. They wished to protest outside a local school about the United States military presence within. A U.S. Army Psychological Operations team attempted to force the civilians to disperse with announcements, but the team failed in this attempt. According to locals, at this point the United States soldiers fired upon the unarmed crowd, killing 17 and wounding more than 70 of the protesters. The U.S. suffered no casualties from the incident. According to the soldiers on the ground, the 82nd Airborne soldiers inside the school responded to "effective fire" from inside the protesting crowd. Two days later, on April 30, the 82d Airborne was replaced in the city by 2nd Troop (Fox) / U.S. 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. The 3d Cavalry was significantly smaller in number and chose not to occupy the same schoolhouse where the shooting had occurred two days earlier.
However, on the same day three more unarmed civilians were killed by United States soldiers during a daytime protest in front of the Ba'ath party headquarters and mayor's office (which are adjacent to one another; known collectively to US forces as FOB Laurie). Once again, the US suffered no casualties from the incident but some US soldiers were hurt in a retaliatory grenade attack on the Ba'ath headquarters later that evening.
The incident is frequently cited and compared to other similar incidents. Foreign Policy
compared Fallujah to Israel
's Gaza flotilla raid
of 2010 during which Israeli naval commandos used "lethal force" to kill nine people.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
1st Battalion, 325th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division fired into a crowd of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i civilians who were protesting their presence at a school within the city of Fallujah
Fallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
. The soldiers claimed they were receiving fire from the crowd. The civilians said they were shot at first.
On the evening of April 28, 2003, several hundred civilians ignored a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
imposed on them by the United States Armed Forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
. They proceeded to marched through the streets of Fallujah, past the soldiers positioned in the Ba'ath party headquarters. They wished to protest outside a local school about the United States military presence within. A U.S. Army Psychological Operations team attempted to force the civilians to disperse with announcements, but the team failed in this attempt. According to locals, at this point the United States soldiers fired upon the unarmed crowd, killing 17 and wounding more than 70 of the protesters. The U.S. suffered no casualties from the incident. According to the soldiers on the ground, the 82nd Airborne soldiers inside the school responded to "effective fire" from inside the protesting crowd. Two days later, on April 30, the 82d Airborne was replaced in the city by 2nd Troop (Fox) / U.S. 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. The 3d Cavalry was significantly smaller in number and chose not to occupy the same schoolhouse where the shooting had occurred two days earlier.
However, on the same day three more unarmed civilians were killed by United States soldiers during a daytime protest in front of the Ba'ath party headquarters and mayor's office (which are adjacent to one another; known collectively to US forces as FOB Laurie). Once again, the US suffered no casualties from the incident but some US soldiers were hurt in a retaliatory grenade attack on the Ba'ath headquarters later that evening.
The incident is frequently cited and compared to other similar incidents. Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
compared Fallujah to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Gaza flotilla raid
Gaza flotilla raid
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea...
of 2010 during which Israeli naval commandos used "lethal force" to kill nine people.
See also
- Fallujah during the Iraq War
- Rules of Engagement (film)Rules of Engagement (film)Rules of Engagement is a 2000 American film directed by William Friedkin and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson plays Marine Colonel Terry Childers, who is brought to court-martial on charges of disobeying the rules of engagement in a military incident at an American embassy...
- A fictional film displaying a similar incident of US soldiers under a perceived attack from a hostile crowd