View source for Operation Dawn 2

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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Operation Dawn 2
| width             = 
| partof            = [[Iran–Iraq War]] – the Northern Front
| image             = 
| caption           = 
| date              = 22–24 July 1983<ref name=Razeoux>{{cite book |last1=Razoux |first1=Pierre |title=The Iran-Iraq War |date=2015 |publisher=Harvard University Press, 2015 |isbn=978-0674915718 |page=249-250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGsuCwAAQBAJ}}</ref><br />(3 days)
| place             = [[Iraqi Kurdistan]]
| coordinates       = 
| map_type          = 
| map_relief        = 
| latitude          = 
| longitude         = 
| map_size          = 
| map_marksize      = 
| map_caption       = 
| map_label         = 
| territory         = Iran captures strategic [[Haj Omran]] highlands
| result            = 
| status            = Iranian victory
* Tactical Iraqi failure
* Iraqi counter-attack fails
| combatants_header = 
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Ba'athist Iraq}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Iran|1980}}<br />{{flagicon image|Flag_of_KDP.png}} [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] (KDP)
| commander1        = 
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Iran|1980}} Hujjat-ul-Islam [[Mostafa Raddanipoor]]{{KIA}} <small>(commander of [[14th Imam Hossein Division]])</small><br /> {{flagicon|Iran|1980}} [[Mahmoud Kaveh]] <small>(commander of 155th Shohada Special Brigade)</small><br />{{flagicon image|Flag_of_KDP.png}} [[Massoud Barzani]]<br />''See [[#Order of battle]] for more''
| units1            = ''See [[#Order of battle]]''
| units2            = ''See [[#Order of battle]]''
| strength1         = 24 infantry battalions<br />4 commando and special forces battalions<br />4 border guard battalions<ref name=defamoghaddas>{{Cite web |url=http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/fight/%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1-2 |title=والفجر 2 &#124; دفاع‌مقدس |access-date=2016-07-13 |archive-date=2016-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816191336/http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/fight/%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1-2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| strength2         = '''Pasdaran''':<br />16 infantry battalions<br />'''Army''':<br />6 infantry battalions<br />1 mechanized battalion<br />1,500 militiamen<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/written/%DA%AF%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B4-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%DA%AF%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1-2-1 |title=گزارش رسمی عملیات والفجر 2 &#124; دفاع‌مقدس |access-date=2016-07-13 |archive-date=2016-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816132435/http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/written/%DA%AF%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B4-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%DA%AF%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1-2-1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />'''KDP:'''<br />800 [[Peshmerga]]<ref name=Razeoux/>
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
| casualties3       = Several thousand killed<ref name=Razeoux/>
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Iran-Iraq War}}
}}
'''Operation Dawn 2''' or '''Operation Valfajr-2''' ({{langx|fa|عملیات والفجر 2}}) was an Iranian operation during the eight-year-long [[Iran–Iraq War]]. This operation opened a new front in northern [[Iraq]]/[[Iraqi Kurdistan]] also known as "the Northern Front". Despite Turkish help, this region was Iraq's weak point during the war as the [[Kurds]] sided with Iran.<ref name="dunn">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040926093620/http://www.geocities.com/brianjamesdunn/fgwsummaryforweb.html The First Gulf War (Iran and Iraq at War in the 1980s)]</ref>

==Prelude==
In the year leading up to the operation, fighting between Iraqi and Iranian forces drew to a stalemate on the southern front. Iranian forces repeatedly used [[human wave]] attacks in the southern marshlands and deserts, only to be repulsed by forces of the Iraqi Third, Fourth, and Sixth Corps. However, the Iranian government managed to win favor of the [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] people in parts of northern Iraq, thus allowing the opportunity to take the war north.

The main objective of the mission was the frontier town of Haj Omran, which was nestled on the border and surrounded by mountainous terrain. Rebels of the [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] of Iraq would prove a great asset to the advancing Iranians, given their knowledge of the terrain and the people.

==The battle==
On July 22, Iranian forces advanced from [[Piranshahr]] and were highly successful against the Iraqis, effectively seizing Haj Omran in the process. The Iranians and Kurdish [[guerrillas]] made use of elevated ridges to launch ambushes on Iraqi positions and convoys. In all, they seized roughly {{convert|150|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}} of Iraqi territory.

Iraq responded with counteroffensive, launching an airborne assault and employing the use of [[poison gas]] for the first time in the entire war. The Iraqis hit Iranian troops on mountain tops near Haj Omran with [[mustard gas]] while their troops advanced in the slopes. The Iraqis were unfamiliar with the properties of poison gas and the agent descended back down to the exposed Iraqi troops.<ref name="dunn" /> At the same time, the rugged terrain held up Iraqi [[tank]]s. The use of [[helicopter gunships]] was also hampered, since the Iranian and Kurdish fighters had better cover.

These were the deciding factors that contributed to Iraq's loss of the battle.

==Order of battle==
;{{flag|Iran}}
Malik Ashtar Command
* [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army]]
** [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces]]
*** [[77th Infantry Division of Khorasan|77th "Pirooz" Infantry Division of Khorasan]]
**** [[2nd Infantry Brigade of Quchan]]
***** 3 infantry battalions
*** [[92nd Armored Division of Khuzestan]]
**** 1 mechanized battalion
*** [[64th Infantry Division of Urmia]]
**** 1st Brigade
***** 1 infantry battalion
** [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation]]
* [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]]
**[[14th Imam Hossein Division]]<br />Commanded by Hujjat-ul-Islam [[Mostafa Raddanipoor]]
*** 2 infantry battalions
** [[33rd Al-Mahdi Brigade]]<br />Commanded by [[Mohammad Jaafar Asadi]]
*** Fajr Battalion<br />Commanded by [[Morteza javidi|Morteza Javidi]]<ref>http://www.mobarezclip.com/?p=7014</ref>
*** 9 other unnamed infantry battalions
** [[155th Shohada Special Brigade]]<br />Commanded by [[Mahmoud Kaveh]]
*** 2 infantry battalions
** [[8th Najaf Ashraf Division]]<br />Commanded by [[Ahmad Kazemi]]<ref>http://www.8najaf.com/?p=9114{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
*** 2 infantry battalions
* Artillery unit
** 11 artillery batteries
* [[Jihad of Construction]]
* [[Basij]]
* [[Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic of Iran|Gendarmerie]]
* Local tribal fighters

''Source:'' <ref>{{cite web |url=http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/news/29-%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%9B-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B12 |title=29 تیر؛ سالروز عملیات والفجر2 {{!}} دفاع‌مقدس |website=defamoghaddas.ir |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816185058/http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/news/29-%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%9B-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B12 |archive-date=2016-08-16}}</ref>

;{{flagicon image|Flag_of_KDP.png}} [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]] (KDP)
* [[Peshmerga]]
** 1,000 militia fighters

;{{flagcountry|Iraq|1963}}
* 91st Infantry Brigade
* 98th Infantry Brigade
* 66th Infantry Brigade
* 1 tank battalion
* 31st Special Forces Brigade
** 2nd Battalion
* Tariq Commando Battalion
* Ta'im Commando Battalion

==References==
{{reflist}}
* ''The Longest War'', by Dilip Hiro, Routledge, Chapman, and Hall, Inc., NY, 1991.
* ''The Iran-Iraq War: Chaos in a Vacuum'', by Stephen Pelletiere, Praeger Publishers, New York, NY, 1992.
* http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/details/1430

{{Iran-Iraq war}}

{{coord missing|Iraq}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn 2}}
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War in 1983]]
[[Category:1983 in Iraqi Kurdistan]]
[[Category:July 1983 in Asia]]
[[Category:Iraqi war crimes]]
[[Category:Ambushes in Iraq]]
[[Category:1983 road incidents]]
[[Category:Road incidents in Iraq]]
[[Category:Military operations involving chemical weapons during the Iran–Iraq War]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War involving the Peshmerga]]
[[Category:Iraqi airstrikes during the Iran–Iraq War]]
[[Category:Airstrikes in Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War]]