Some important events during the 8-year war imposed on Iran: Part 1
On November 15, 1980 AD, Iran's south western border town of Susangerd witnessed the courageous resistance of the Muslim combatants against the invading forces of Saddam. The defence operations were conducted only by two hundred personnel of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC), led by Defence Minister Mostafa Chamran and assisted by the lightly-armed local Basijis. The Iranian combatants held back enemy tanks and liberated Susangerd. The victory was achieved despite virtual deprivation of water, food, and ammunitions for almost three days.
On November 27, 1980, almost two months after the start of the 8-year war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam, Iran’s Navy defeated the Iraqi navy, destroying a large number of vessels and inflicting huge damage on Iraq’s al-Bakr oil platform at the headwaters of the Persian Gulf. The Iraqi navy was virtually eliminated, and to mark this great victory, this day has been marked over the past 31 years as Navy Day in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
On December 5, 1980, Brigadier General, Ahmad Keshvari, attained martyrdom at the age of 27 while on an airborne mission during the 8-year war imposed on Iran by the US through Saddam. Born in northern Iran, he entered the airborne unit in 1972 and became an accomplished pilot. Following the victory of Islamic Revolution, he served the country in various fields, including the operations to clear Kurdistan Province in western Iran from anti-revolutionaries. He was made Commander of the Ilam Airborne Unit. Following the outbreak of Saddam’s war, he flew several sorties, inflicting massive casualties and losses on the invading forces, before attaining martyrdom.
On December 18, 1982 AD, Saddam's Ba'thist forces targeted the southwestern Iranian city of Dezful with a large number of surface-to-surface missiles, martyring 60 civilians and wounding 287 others. Although, earlier Iraqi warplanes had bombarded different Iranian cities on several occasions, martyring many civilians, the attack on Dezful was the first wide-scale missile aggression by Saddam, who on US orders had imposed the 8-year war on the Islamic Republic Iran. The massive attack on Iranian cities and civilians by Saddam and his subsequent use of internationally banned chemical weapons, supplied by the US and Germany was because of the repeated failure of his forces at the war fronts due to the steadfastness of Iran's Muslim combatants.
On January 8, 1987 AD, "Operations Karbala-5" was launched during the 8-year Holy Defence by Iran's Muslim combatants, east of the Iraqi city port city of Basra against the invading forces of Saddam’s repressive Ba’th minority regime. In view of the importance of the region, Saddam had erected numerous hurdles that seemed impossible to surmount. Iran's courageous defenders, however, through their trust in God, overcame the obstacles and dealt a heavy blow to the Ba'thist war machine, to the extent that the enemy forces lost more than 80 warplanes and 700 tanks, while thousands of Iraqi soldiers were killed, wounded, and captured.
The operations showed that despite the support of the Capitalist West and the Communist East for Saddam, as well as his backing by the oil-rich Persian Gulf Arab regimes, the armed-to-the-teeth B’athist army was no match for Iran’s brave Islamic combatants.
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
Source: imamreza.net
Other links:
Ground Forces Operations in Eight years of Holy Defense
Iraq in preparation for a strike on Iran
