IRAQ PULLS TROOPS FROM BASRA FRONT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403160003-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 11, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: February 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/11: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403160003-8
i.~t'l 1:
WASHINGTON POST
23 February 1986 Vjjj
From Basra Front
Iraq PU1L:Tro0ps
Army Corps Sent South in Attempt to Retake Port of Faw
(Tehran radio said the attacks servers here feel the terrain re-
By Loren Jenkin used 1,000 Iraqi casualties and mains favorable to the Iranian oc-
"'"~iaj0oa` r?'?'s""resulted in the capture of 87 Iraqis, cupiers because of their greater
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 22--Iraq bringing to 2,192 the number taken reliance on infantry troops.
had moved fresh troops, equipment during Iran's Dawn 8" offensive. More worrying to many diplo-
and a top battlefield commander [Iran now holds 360 square miles mats and military observers here is
f"m a vital front north of Basra to' of the "strategic region," the com- the effect that the diversion of Gen.
baker its drive south of the city munique said. Rashid and many of his troops
[Iran said it shot down five planes might have on the Howeizah
aggrat Iranian troops entrenched oa the marshy Few peninsibb today, bringing the total to 55. Iraq marshes front just east of the stra-
Jraq has been trying to dislodge has conceded the loss of six air- tegic Basra-to-Baghdad highway he
[ normally defends.
craft
,
Ir>Mniaa forces now estimated at Western diplomatic 'and military . Accordin to so
30,000 men from the Persian Gulf observers here said Rashid's fresh to aeria satellite uhoto9E
oil terminal port since its capture forces were reinforcing the 7th Ar- Iraqi fronts a large force of Iranian
13 days ago. my's northern column, which has troo seen mas$in ehind the
Lt. Gen. Maher Ahmed Rashid been bogged down for a week along oweiza mars ies for the vast
told a press conference in Basra the' main gam-Faw road parallel- month an another offensive in this
today that his 3rd Army Corps was ing the Shatt at Arab waterway that zone, fought over bitter in the
umg sent south to join three o01- divides the warring nations. past two years angerous nos
umns of 6c'1'0th Army Corps try- The Iraqi counteroffensive sibil' n the new diversions of
ing to push back the Iranians. against the Iranians in Faw is being Iraqi forces.
'Rashid premeted his sum would led by a respected assistant military The fierceness of the fighting
turn the tide of the battle and "Soon chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Hisham around Faw and the slowness of the
hive the Iraqi flag flying over Faw." Sabahn Fakhri, and is spearheaded Iraqi advance was confirmed to-
[In Tehran, Reuter reported that by elite commando units and repub- night by an Iraqi military commu-
officials issued a communique say- lican guards from Baghdad. nique lauding the counteroffensive,
ing the Iranian occupiers had According to western sources but admitting that its central col-
crushed four Iraqi infantry attacks. monitoring the battle from Bagh- umn had meters during the only three
24 kuo-
dad, the counteroffensive has had mand the southern column only 1.5
some success in pushing the Iran- kilometers. The communique ad-
Faw back along the road connecting mitted also that the northern col-
Qasr. to the Iraqi naval base at Umm mn had not moved at all but was
Qasr. A central column moving u
down a rough new gravel road has "pounding" the enemy with artil-
also made slight advances, accord- lery.
ing to an Iraqi military communique
issued tonight.
Travelers returning from the
battlefront area today reported that
Iraq had been laying down a curtain
of artillery fire and aerial bombard-
ment ahead of its troops in confor-
mity with its strategy of trying to
minimize casualties on the ground
by relying on its superior firepower
over the Iranians in artillery, tanks
and aircraft.
The Iranians, however, are re-
ported to be well dug in around Faw
and in recent nights have managed
to reinforce their forces with tanks
and artillery ferried across the fast-
flowing Shatt al Arab.
The peninsula's marshy salt flats
and palm groves have seriously
hampered Iraq's ability to use its
superior tank force. Military ob-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/11: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403160003-8