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Battle of Donkey Island | |||||||
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Part of the Iraq War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Islamic State of Iraq | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
1-77 Armor Regiment 2nd Battalion 5th Marines | 1-149 Aviation Battalion | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30–50 soldiers | 40–70 fighters | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed, 11 wounded | 32 killed |
The Battle of Donkey Island was a skirmish that occurred on 30 June and 1 July 2007 between elements of the U.S. Army Task Force 1-77 Armor Regiment, the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines and a numerically superior force of Islamic State of Iraq insurgents on the banks of a canal leading from Ramadi to Lake Habbaniyah in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.[1][2]
Official reports of the clash indicate that the U.S. force suffered 2 soldiers dead and 11 wounded, while an estimated 32 insurgents were killed (out of an estimated force of 40–70 fighters). From a military perspective, the battle was a complete victory for the U.S. forces, which detected and defeated an insurgent force before it could launch a planned assault on Ramadi. From a political perspective, the action revealed the continuing ability of Islamic State of Iraq to plan and assemble forces in their attempt to destabilize the Anbar region.