Battle of Samawah ( 2003 ) The Battle of Samawah took place during the 2003 invasion of Iraq as American troops fought to clear the city of Iraqi forces . The city had been bypassed during the advance on Baghdad , leaving the task of clearing it to American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division with mechanized infantry and armor provided by units of the 1 - 41st Infantry and 2 - 70th Armor Battalions . Before the battle . As the U . S . 3rd Infantry Division advanced northwards to Baghdad , they avoided getting bogged down in urban combat by bypassing heavily defended Iraqi towns . Keeping to the south of the Euphrates River , they planned to cross the river directly south of Baghdad , in the Karbala Gap . Outside of Samawah from March 22 - March 25 , the 3rd Infantry Division made contact with Iraqi forces outside Samawah , using artillery and airstrikes . Iraqi forces attacked the American armored columns and were slaughtered . It is estimated that 120 - 160 Iraqis died in this action , in which no Americans were killed . The city was bypassed and did not seriously impede the 3rd Infantry Division ' s advance on Baghdad , but irregular forces based inside the city staged attacks on American supply lines . On March 25 , the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division received the order to clear Samawah and by March 28 they had re - deployed to Talil Air Base in southern Iraq . Battle . The 2nd Brigade reached Samawah at 3 : 00 AM on March 30 , expecting to assault a trench line on the eastern outskirts of the town . Instead , they discovered a sand berm surrounding a landfill , which was not defended by enemy forces . At dawn , the Americans began to advance towards the cement factory and received heavy small arms and RPG fire . A sharp firefight developed between the Americans hiding behind the berms in the landfill and the Iraqi forces around the factory . An Iraqi sniper fired from the top of the factory ' s smokestack until an American soldier fired a TOW missile into the smokestack , collapsing the structure . Lacking smoke shells for their mortars in order to screen their movements , American forces were unable to advance and pulled back to the east . OH - 58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters arrived and attacked enemy mortar and RPG teams , and destroyed several technical vehicles . At around 3 : 00 PM , Navy F / A - 18 Hornet s arrived on station and bombed a warehouse attached to the cement factory . Fighting around the cement factory died down at nightfall . That night , the 2nd Battalion of the 325th Infantry Regiment launched a feint attack against the bridges in the town over the Euphrates River . The purpose was to draw the attention of Iraqi Republican Guard forces on the other side of the river , preventing them from attacking the 3rd ID ' s rear areas and fixing their positions so they could be destroyed by American air power . At the start of the assault , A - 10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and 105 mm howitzers bombarded the north bank of the Euphrates . 2nd Battalion then attacked , seizing the bridges , crossing the river , and establishing a bridgehead on the north bank . Having achieved their objectives , the battalion pulled back at dawn . During this operation , an SUV attempted to run across the bridge at the Americans . After being hit with fire from a . 50 caliber machine gun , the vehicle exploded into a fireball . It had been loaded with propane tanks for use as a suicide car bomb . The rest of the day saw only light fighting and the exchange of mortar fire . At 7 : 00 PM on April 2 , 1st Battalion of the 325th Infantry Regiment launched an attack on the cement factory with the support of an AC - 130 gunship . They took the factory unopposed . Over the next two days , 2nd Brigade cleared the rest of the city , including an assault on the headquarters of an Iraqi paramilitary group on April 4 . Rather than taking and holding ground , the Americans launched probing attacks into the city , engaged enemy forces , and then pulled back . Airstrikes were used against the Ba ' ath Party Headquarters , a school used as a headquarters building , and a soccer field used as a rallying point . A hospital was also being used as a headquarters by Iraqi forces , however this was not bombed due to civilians in the area . By April 4 , resistance had ceased and the city was declared cleared .