In the previous article, it was discussed why Iranian commanders chose tough and arduous regions such as wetland areas for Kheibar operation. Iraq, in the third and fourth years of the war, adopted new tactics based on the experiences gained from the battlefield.

Confronting the enemy in new ways naturally required the use of new tactics and measures to prevent an impasse in the war. Due to the weakness of the Ba'athist army in the amphibious operations, in order to disrupt the military equation to the favor of the Islamic Republic and to take the initiative, wetlands were selected with three outstanding features. The first feature was the enemy's weakness in amphibious operations and its failure to adapt quickly to the new situation. The speed of action was the second feature and the principle of surprise was the third feature for choosing wetland to carry out Kheibar operation.

In the first stage, operation started simultaneously in all axes on March 3, 1983, and the advancement of the Iranian combatants was accompanied with quickness and surprise, as on the fourth day of operation, part of the forces reached the city of al-Qarnah and were welcomed by people who slaughtered sheep for them. In the northern axis of al-Uzair, the Iranian forces managed to reach the river and cut off movement of cars on the Basra-Baghdad road. During this stage, the northern and southern Majnoon Islands were surrounded from the back and easily captured. The Ba'athist forces were so much scared at this stage that they declared a state of emergency in the city of Al-Amara, and immediately they sent the forces to the operational area by helicopter. In the second phase of the operation, two major attempts were made in the axis of Majnoon and Talaiyeh Islands to join the forces together and then advance deep into the Iraqi soil, but the advance was not made due to certain factors. The Ba'athist enemy had gradually recovered. After getting information on the goals and major axes of the operation, it focused its main effort first on cleansing the areas adjacent to Basra-Al-Amara road and then on Talaiyeh region.

What required the Iranian forces to resist in Talaiyeh region was the strategic importance of the region for the whole operation; given that if the annexation and cleansing were materialized the land in the back would be connected to the operational area and the Iranian combatants would be able to expand the operation in new dimensions. The battle of the Iranian combatants with the Iraqi Ba'athist army was carried out in a certain spiritual atmosphere. The focus of the enemy's fire on the limited region of Talaiyeh was very extraordinary. Martyr Hojjatoleslam Abdullah Maysami, one of the commanders of the operation, said on the self-sacrifice and steadfastness of the Iranian valorous combatants, "Everyone who stood in Talaiyeh, would stand even if he were in Karbala."

Because of the heavy fire of the enemy and the lack of fire support on the Iranian side, the continuation of the deployment of forces in the eastern Tigris was impossible, and operating units were forced to retreat to Majnoon islands. In order to preserve the two Majnoon islands efforts were made to launch the operation from Talaiyeh axis and to establish a path connecting the southern island and the land. However, due to many barriers and dense minefields, the tunnels did not open and the operation failed. The Iraqi army attacked the southern island through northern plains of Noshveh area, and a number of its tanks entered the island. Units of the Ashura and Najaf divisions resisted for 72 hours and succeeded to maintain the southern island. This, while the forces defending the island were provided only with boat and a limited number of helicopters. The impossibility of establishing a land connection with Majnoon island increased the need to build a floating bridge between the northern island and the coast. In order to open the land route to the southern Majnoon island, Imam Hussein and Muhammad Rasulallah divisions, were given the mission to carry out operations in Talaiyeh.

Although the first line of the enemy was broken by Imam Hussein division in Talaiyeh, the forces that were supposed to start operations on the southern Majnoon island were unsuccessful. Therefore, the Iranian units did not reach the Talaiyeh bridge and the route did not open. In this phase of the operation, Hussein Kharrazi, the brave commander of Imam Hussein division, lost his right hand and left the battlefield upon insistence of his fellow-combatants and other commanders. The third stage of the operation was mainly concentrated on keeping the northern and southern Majnoon islands. For the enemy, any presence of Iranian forces on the wetland was unbearable; therefore, they tried to take back the islands by launching intense fire.

Thus, Saddam's army hit the islands for 72 hours. Some estimates indicated that the Ba'athist army had fired almost a million shells and mortars during its ceaseless offensive. The war on the islands was far from conventional military combats, because the Iranian forces continued to resist without fire support whereas the Ba'athist enemy, with the help of hundreds of cannons targeting the island and incessant bombardment of Iranian trenches by aircraft inflicted much pressure.

Hence, the IRGC was stationed in the region with full capacity to repel the enemy's invasion and maintain the islands. In the course of this stiff resistance, a number of IRGC commanders were martyred and injured. Haj Mohammad Ebrahim Hemmat, brave commander of Mohammad Rasulullah division and Akbar Zojaji, the deputy commander of the division, were martyred by cannon shell while riding a motorcycle. Another valorous commander was martyr Hamid Bakeri, deputy commander of Ashura division, who displayed the epic of resistance on the battlefield on southern Majnoon island. A number of forces of Ashura division, stiffly resisted the enemy fire on the southern island. Hamid Bakeri, with his martyrdom, portrayed the meaning of fighting like Imam Hussein (PBUH). In part of his last will, he wrote:

"Upon the command of Imam Khomeini we have entered the war like Imam Hussein and we will be martyred like Hussein."

FK/RM/ME