Battle of Hillah (2003)
As a main objective of the invasion of Iraq was to disable the Republican Guard, this made Al Hillah an important target for Coalition forces, as well as the fact that Al Hillah lay in the path of the planned Coalition advance Najaf.What followed was intensely fierce urban combat as Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah, under fire from Republican Guard soldiers and Iraqi infantry.[2] After nearly 15 minutes of intense gun battle, US ground units halted near the campus of Babylon Community College, where they exchanged small arms and artillery fire with two entrenched Republican Guard infantry battalions, two artillery batteries, and extensive air defense systems.Eight Apaches returned to their base damaged, with repair teams reported to have been pulling unexploded RPGs out of the skins of the helicopters.Following the bombing, Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah and captured the city by the end of 1 April, encountering sparse resistance.