If you remember, we discussed the first major operation in 1983 which was called Val-Fajr Operation. As the operation did not achieve its main goals it was called preliminary Val-Fajr. In this operation, the Iranian combatants faced with very complicated and diverse obstacles to enter the enemy's soil.

Since the operational area was covered with soft sand, it was very difficult for the infantry forces to cross it and go deep into the Ba'athist enemy’s territory. After 15 kilometers walk in the area, Iranian combatants reached the barriers which were installed by the Iraqi forces to prevent further advancement of Iran. Barriers of up to four kilometers were equipped with various types of barbed wire, every type of minefields, water canals connected to electricity and explosive barrels made the area impregnable.

The brave Iranian combatants, passing through those obstacles, displayed an eternal epic in fighting the Ba'athist forces. In addition to crushing of 905 and 704 brigades and a Sudanese battalion, 113 Ba'athist forces were captured. Also, over 80 tanks and personnel carriers, 120 vehicles and a large number of light and semi-heavy weapons and 5 aircrafts were destroyed. Totally, 4620 enemy troops were killed, injured and captured. At the end of Val-Fajr Operation, the Iranian commanders realized that any future operation should be launched in areas free of the enemy's strong points (barriers, artillery fire, etc.). On the other hand, the selected areas should be such that the weaknesses of Iranian forces would be less visible.

Unlike the previous operations including Samen Al-A’imma which broke the siege of Abadan and preliminary Val-Fajr Operation in which the Iranian forces took advantage of the night darkness and their rest hours to break the Ba'athist enemy’s defense lines, in Val-Fajr operation Iranian forces launched an attack under the cover of fire. Therefore, Val-Fajr operation started with broad artillery fire and about 60 thousand artillery shells were shot on the enemy’s positions. Of course, the Ba'athist enemy launched heavy artillery fire on Iranian forces. It was estimated that nearly one and a half million shells were shot by the Iraqi army.

Indeed, one of the reasons of failure of Val-Fajr 1 operation was the heavy artillery fire of the Ba'athist enemy. Most of the operational area was made up of sand hills with the maximum height roughly reaching 180 meters. Khatam-al Anbia headquarters run the operation from the two northern and southern axes to the command of Karbala headquarters on the right wing and Najaf headquarters on the left wing. 8 divisions from IRGC and 2 divisions plus 3 brigades and one battalion from the Islamic Republic Army’s ground force participated in the operation. In other words, about 80 battalions of the IRGC and 30 battalions from the Army ground force were assigned for the operation. On the Iraqi side, nine divisions, 10 brigades, 10 independent battalions under the command of the 4th Corps and 400 artillery fires from the Iraqi army were active from the beginning till the end of the operation.

The main goal of Val-Fajr operation was to have an overlook on the strategic city of Al-Amara in the Iraqi province of Maysan and to threaten the general area of Basra on the north. The operational goals of this battle were the annihilation of Ba'athist forces in the area and accessing the oil wells of "Bazregan and Foqi" fields on Iraqi soil, "Bayat and Paydar " on the Islamic Republic of Iran territory, as well as maintenance of the industrial town "Zobaidat" and its refinery installations inside Iraq.

At 22:10, April 10, 1983, Val-Fajr 1 Operation began with the code-name "Ya Allah wansorna 'alal qawm-il kaferin.” From the beginning of the operation till the next morning when the command was announced to halt the operation, everything went well. By the end of the sixth day, Ba'athist forces launched several counter offensives, and the heights located in the area changed hands several times. At the end of the operation, 6,750 Ba'athist forces were killed, wounded and captured; 98 tanks and armored personnel carriers were destroyed; five helicopters and three groups of 550-strong Jaysh al-Sha'bi forces, three commando battalions and four mechanized battalions were damaged; and part of the Humrain heights, several villages on the banks of the Dweirej River and the border checkpoint of Pich Angizeh were liberated covering a total area of 150 kilometers.

However, Val-Fajr 1 Operation was not considered as a successful operation. Although the majority of pre-planned goals were captured in the operation, the lack of timely and complete advance and lack of connection among operational units in some axes failed them to consolidate the captured positions. Hence, the Ba'athist enemy’s counterattacks prevented the Islamic Republic of Iran’s forces from gaining access to all goals.

Usually after launching every operation by the Islamic Republic forces, Iraq attacked residential areas inside Iranian cities especially the border cities. Dezful was the first city that was usually the target of Iraqi revenge. After Val-Fajr 1 Operation, the Iraqi army on April 20, 1983 fired three surface to surface rockets at Dezful which destroyed 70 houses and martyred over 20 people and injured about 150 others. Again on April 22, 1983, Saddam's army shot missiles toward Dezful which led to the destruction of 200 houses and shops. In these attacks, over 20 innocent people were martyred and more than 200 others injured. In response to Iraq’s repeated attacks to Dezful, the great Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini (God's mercy upon him), in a speech said: "You see what those who claim to be supporters of people and supporters of Arabs are doing against Khuzestan and Dezful. They think that launching missiles at houses and killing children and young and old women will make us surrender. They do not know Khuzestan. They do not know Dezful. Although they have repeatedly experienced and destroyed the houses of our dear ones since the beginning of war and martyred a large number of God’s servants and viewed the resistance of the Iranian nation and people of Dezful, today with all these calamities the cry of “war, war until victory” is chanted loud by our youths in Dezful.”

FK/RM/ME