Operation Ancient Babylon
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Operation Ancient Babylon () was the code name given to the deployment of Italian forces during the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. Their mission lasted from 15 July 2003 to 1 December 2006. The troops were located in and around
Nasiriyah Nasiriyah ( , ; , BGN: , ), also spelled Nassiriya or Nasiriya, is a city in Iraq, the capital of the Dhi Qar Governorate. It lies on the lower Euphrates, about south-southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. Its po ...
.
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
lost 36 soldiers during the mission, half of them in the 2003 Nasiriyah bombing against the
Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...
Multinational Specialized Unit base. Italian forces were assisted by Portuguese and
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n troops.


Italian intervention

In March 2003, the
invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...
was launched by a coalition composed mainly of British and US armies, with soldiers from other countries, including Italy, participating. On 1 May 2003, the “end of combat operations” was declared, even though foreign armies never had full control of
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, suffering serious losses inflicted by the Iraqi insurgency. UN Resolution 1483 of 22 May 2003 approved by the United Nations Security Council calls on all states to contribute to the rebirth of Iraq, fostering the security of the Iraqi people and the development of the nation. Italy participated in Operation Ancient Babylon by providing forces in southern Iraq, with a main base in Nasiriyah. On 15 April 2003 the Chambers, through the approval of resolutions, authorized the Government to carry out a military mission in Iraq (called Ancient Babylon) for humanitarian purposes. The parliamentary authorization intervened even before the adoption of Resolution 1483 and in a phase in which the difficulty of control of the territory by the occupying authorities and the Iraqi authorities had not yet clearly emerged. The Italian mission began on 15 July 2003 and is a military operation for the purposes of peacekeeping (maintenance and safeguarding of peace), which has the following objectives: * reconstruction of the Iraqi "security sector" through assistance for training and equipment of forces, at central and local level, both in the context of
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
and bilaterally; * creation and maintenance of the necessary security framework; competition for the restoration of public infrastructures and the reactivation of essential services; * radiological, biological and chemical measurements; competition for public order; * military police; * airport management contest; * competition for reclamation activities, with the use of the dog component; * support for ORHA activities; * control of the territory and the fight against crime.


The participation of the Italian Navy

The
Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...
deployed various ships including
minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...
s,
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s and the ''San Giorgio''-class amphibious transport dock that covered the role of
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
. Furthermore,
marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...
and
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...
s alongside naval pilots given support to ground operations.


The displacement

The Italian soldiers and the riflemen of the San Marco were deployed in the south Shiite Shi, a relatively quiet area compared to the provinces sunnite and to the capital
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
; the main seat of the contingent was the city of Nāsiriyya, the provincial capital of Dhi Qar, where the Italian Barbara Contini was placed by the
Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
(CPA) at Head of the civil administration in charge of reconstruction. This did not prevent the Italian soldiers from being the subject of a suicide attack in 2003, in which 19 of the 23 dead were Italian, military and civilian.


Logistic operations before the battle for the bridges

Following the 12 November 2003 attack on the "Maestrale" base, the situation in Nassiriya of the Italian peace contingent changed, began to make itself felt more present in the province of Dhi Qar, an act not acceptable to the various hostile factions operating in the area, in the case of the faction of the Iraqi Shia cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr (; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father, and founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted ...
and his army of the Mahdi, a group believed to be mainly involved in the attack on the carabinieri at the "Maestrale" base. At 4:00 am on 6 April 2004 the Italian land contingent, or three companies of the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment, a Regiment "Savoia Cavalleria" (3rd) company with eight
B1 Centauro The Centauro is a family of Italian military vehicles originating from a wheeled tank destroyer for light to medium territorial defense and tactical reconnaissance. It was developed by a consortium of manufacturers, the Società Consortile Iveco ...
s and various logistic components of the Ariete Armored Brigade, left the "White Horse" complex to go to guard the access bridges to Nassyriya: "Alpha", "Bravo", "Charlie". Reaching the city at 6:00 am, the units that were involved in this clash fought for 18 hours, the longest firefight that involved Italians since the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, which is why the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment received the
War Cross for Military Valor The War Cross for Military Valor () is an Italian order for military valor. Established in 1922, the cross may be awarded only in time of war. Appearance The medal is a Greek cross made of copper. Inscribed on the horizontal arms is ''Al Val ...
, for the maneuvers carried out on the three bridges in those days of the Ancient Babylon III mission.


The battle for the bridges

In Nassiriya, a few months after the attack on 12 November 2003, from 6 April to 6 August 2004, several battles took place between the Italian troops and the Mahdi Army; the Italian military were engaged in the city in several clashes, in which over 30,000 bullets were fired, to control three bridges that allow the passage of the river, in which eleven gunmen were slightly injured; Iraqi casualties were heavy (out of 200), including a woman and two children, and as many injured. In Italy they are known generically as the Battle of the bridges of Nassiriya, even if we refer to three different episodes with clashes between hundreds of Italian soldiers on one side and similar or higher numbers of militiamen on the other; in particular, in the first battle that took place on the night of 6 April, about 500 Italian soldiers and a thousand militiamen were employed; the objective was originally made up of all three bridges, but given the gathering of women and children among the militiamen on the third bridge, the Italians did not take any action to cross it, remaining to guard only one bank. For the occasion, called the Porta Pia operation, various companies from different departments were engaged, including the 11th bersaglieri regiment, a company from the San Marco battalion, a heavy armored squadron Centauro del Savoia cavalry, the GIS carabinieri and the paratroopers (carabinieri, but framed until 2002 in the Folgore Brigade) of the Tuscania regiment. During the fight, the Italian military were also targeted with portable anti-tank rockets of which about 400 were counted, to which they responded with about 30,000 shots of small arms and some missiles, as well as some shots of the Centauro armored vehicles; observers noted how the militiamen had taken several ambulances from hospitals and used them to transport ammunition to their outposts. The third battle took place from 5 to 6 August 2004, on the three bridges over the Euphrates, named Alfa, Bravo and Charlie (the first three letters of the
NATO phonetic alphabet The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman ...
), to restore access to the city by supplies for the citizenship, forbidden by militiamen; the action was entrusted to a reinforced tactical group of the task force called Serenissima. capitolo 5, Le battaglie dei ponti. At the time the Libeccio base, which until the attack hosted the Italian operational presence in the city together with the Mistral base, had already been evacuated, but was re-occupied for the occasion by the 3rd company of the Lagunari who presided over it together with the Alfa bridge despite being targeted by mortar bombs and small arms during the approach. On the Italian side, thermal visors and illuminating grenades were used to precisely identify the starting points of the shots, in full residential area and therefore with risk for the population, together with two Mangusta helicopters that from above provided information and protection. This did not prevent an episode that was subsequently investigated by the military prosecutor and articles in the media: a vehicle, which tried to cross one of the bridges by forcing the Italian checkpoint on the opposite access to that of origin, was considered a car bomb and hit by the Italian military who garrisoned it and exploded catastrophically killing passengers including a pregnant woman. According to a reconstruction, the investigation by the Italian military prosecutor found that the vehicle was an ambulance and the explosion was also due to an oxygen cylinder carried on it, but the military interrogated had previously denied having seen flashers and signals of rescue and claimed to have been subjected to gunfire. Subsequently, another reconstruction cited documents published on
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...
that denied the use of firearms from the ambulance but confirmed that it had been transformed into a car bomb and that it did not stop at the checkpoint. Overall, the battles led to the loss of the "Libeccio" logistics complex and the retreat of the Mahdi army from the city.


Role of the Romanian armed forces

The Romanian contingent consisting of the 26th Infantry Battalion "Neagoe Basarab", known as the Red Scorpions, under the command of lieutenant colonel
Nicolae Ciucă Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (; born 22 September 1967) is a Romanian politician and retired general of the Romanian Land Forces. Ideologically a conservative, he served as Prime Minister of Romania between 25 November 2021 and 12 June 2023 after receiv ...
also participated in the second battle in May 2004 along with a company of the 265th Military Police Battalion which acted in the defense of the Libeccio base. This was the first military engagement of the
Romanian Armed Forces The Romanian Armed Forces ( or ''Armata Română'') are the military forces of Romania. It comprises the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Force. The current Commander-in-chief is Lieutenant General Gheorghiță Vlad who is managed by ...
ever since the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. During the battle, the Romanian forces were stationed at Camp White Horse, away from the city and controlled by the Italian 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete". The Romanian battalion received an order from the Italian general Gian Marco Chiarini, commander of the 132nd brigade, to secure access routes to Nasiriyah, including a bridge over the Euphrates, and prevent the entry and exit from the city of members of the Mahdi Army. Following this, Ciucă and a column of ten
armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...
s went to the bridge over the Euphrates on the night of 14/15 May. The force did not include all of the troops of the battalion, as a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
stayed in the camp along some troops to remain as a rapid intervention reserve. The column was attacked two times by Iraqi soldiers with rifles and
grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...
s, to which the Romanian forces replied by opening fire. In the second attack, the commander ordered the troops to dismount and form a defensive perimeter between the road and the
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
embankment. After the situation was evaluated, the order was given to clear the area. During the engagement, an
RPG-7 The RPG-7 is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket launcher. The RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and are now manufactured by the Russian company Bazalt. The weapon has t ...
hit one of the TABs, which damaged its wheels, leaving it behind the column with only one working wheel. After the fighting ended, the Romanian soldiers returned to base with their APCs suffering only material damage. Ciucă later admitted having had fear during the battle and that God defended the Romanian troops. Furthermore, Ioan Mircea Pașcu, Minister of Defence of Romania at the time of the battle, said the battle of Nasiriyah helped Romania gain more confidence from the United States. He said in a 2013 interview "That was a moment when soldiers from all over America heard about Romania and, when they went home, talked to their families about Romania".


Fallen in Iraq

The following Italian soldiers died in the operation: * 17 May 2004 Nassiriya 1st senior caporal Matteo Vanzan. * 5 July 2004 caporal major chosen (OR-4) Antonio Tarantino. * 14 July 2004 Nassiriya sergeant (OR-5) Davide Casagrande. * 21 January 2005 Nassiriya marshal chief (OR-9) Simone Cola. * 4 March 2005 Baghdad
Nicola Calipari Nicola Calipari (June 23, 1953March 4, 2005) was an Italian major general and SISMI military intelligence officer. Calipari was accidentally killed in Iraq by American soldiers while escorting a recently released Italian hostage, journalist G ...
. * 14 March 2005 Nassiriya Sergeant (OR-5) Salvatore Domenico Marracino. * 30 May 2005 Nassiriya 1st Marshal (OR-9) Massimiliano Bionidni * 30 May 2005 Major Marco Briganti. * 30 May 2005 Ordinary Marshal (OR-8) Marco Cirillo. * 30 May 2005 Colonel Giuseppe Lima. * 27 April 2006 Nassiriya Maggiore Nicola Ciardelli * 27 April 2006 Nassirya Marshal (OR-8) Carlo De Trizio (Carabiniere) * 27 April 2006 Marshal (OR-8) Franco Lattanzio (carabiniere). * 7 May 2006 Nassiriya marshal chief (OR-9) Enrico Frassanito. * 5 June 2006 Nassiriya 1st senior caporal Alessandro Pibiri * 21 September 2006 Nassiriya 1st caporal major Massimo Vitaliano. The following Romanian soldiers died in the operation: * 27 April 2006 Nassiriya Corporal Bogdan Hâncu ( military policeman).


End of the mission

The Mahdi Army continued to fight on a smaller scale with the operation of guerrilla losing more and more men, means and territories. The mission ended on 1 December 2006.


See also

* Iraq–Italy relations * Iraq–Romania relations * 2003 Nasiriyah bombing * Multinational Specialized Unit


Bibliography

* ''Luminosity: Report from Al Nasiriyah - Iraq'', by Mauro Filigheddu, Strategic, 2020. *


References

{{Iraq War Multinational force involved in the Iraq War Dhi Qar Governorate in the Iraq War Military operations involving Romania Military operations involving Portugal