In the early hours of 21 March 2003, as part of Operation Viking Hammer, 64 Tomahawk cruise missiles struck the Ansar al-Islam camp and the surrounding sites, the terrorist group – numbering around 700 – had inhabited a valley near Halabja Iraqi Kurdistan, along with a small Kurdish splinter faction; they had prepared a number of defensive positions including anti-aircraft machine guns and maintained a facility, that US intelligence suspected, at which chemical and biological agents may have been developed and stored for future terrorist attacks.
Viking Hammer was set to begin on 21 March, however, the ground component of the operation was set back several days owing to the issues around infiltrating most of the 3rd Battalion 10th SFG into Iraq.
The Islamic Group of Kurdistan surrendered after having suffered 100 men killed in the 21 March strikes.

On 28 March 2003, the ground element of Operation Viking Hammer was finally launched with a six-pronged advance, each prong was composed of several ODAs from 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG and upwards of 1,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.
The main advance set off towards Sargat – the location of the suspected chemical and biological weapons site; the force was soon pinned down by DShK heavy machine-gun fire from the surrounding hills.
A pair of US Navy F/A-18s responded to an urgent CAS request from the force and dropped two 500lb JDAMs on the Ansar al-Islam machine gun nests and strafed the positions with 20mm cannon before departing due to being low on fuel.
The advance began again only to be halted once more by fire from prepared DShK and PKM machine gun nests, Green Berets from ODA 081 deployed a Mk 19 grenade launcher from the back of a Toyota Tacoma and suppressed the gun positions allowing the Peshmerga to assault and wipe out the terrorists.
After capturing the town of Gulp, the force continued onto the village of Sargat; the village was heavily defended by fortified fighting positions mounting DShKs and mortars along with several BM-21 Grad.
Unable to call in airstrikes due to the close proximity of the Peshmerga, a Green Beret sergeant used a dismounted M2 HMG to suppress the entrenched terrorists, his actions allowed the Peshmerga to bring forward their own 82mm Mortars and Grads which forced the Ansar al-Islam fighters to retreat.
Task Force Viking advanced to secure the Daramar Gorge – which was surrounded by caves in the rock walls – the Peshmerga were again engaged by small arms fire and RPGs which it and the ODAs returned fire with heavy weapons, however, it became obvious that they couldn't advance any further without air support.
To dislodge the terrorists, the Combat Controllers attached to the ODAs vectored in US Navy F/A-18s which dropped six 500 lb JDAMs that shut down any further resistance.
During the night, four AC-130 gunships maintained the pressure on the retreating Ansar al-Islam terrorists as they pulled back toward the Iranian border; the next day, Task Force Viking seized the high ground and pushed down through the valley – surrounding and killing small pockets of remnants from Ansar al-Islam.
With their objectives completed, the 3rd Battalion and their Peshmerga returned to the green line to assist the push on Kirkuk and Mosul.
A specialist SSE team was brought in to document the find at Sargat, the team recovered traces of several chemicals including Ricin along with stocks of NBC protective suits, atropine injectors and Arabic manuals on chemical weapons and IED construction.
Estimates of Ansar al-Islam dead number over 300, many of them foreign fighters, whilst only 22 Peshmerga fighters were killed.
In the early hours of 21 March 2003, as part of Operation Viking Hammer, 64 Tomahawk cruise missiles struck the Ansar al-Islam camp and the surrounding sites, the terrorist group – numbering around 700 – had inhabited a valley near Halabja Iraqi Kurdistan, along with a small Kurdish splinter faction; they had prepared a number of defensive positions including anti-aircraft machine guns and maintained a facility, that US intelligence suspected, at which chemical and biological agents may have been developed and stored for future terrorist attacks. Viking Hammer was set to begin on 21 March, however, the ground component of the operation was set back several days owing to the issues around infiltrating most of the 3rd Battalion 10th SFG into Iraq. The Islamic Group of Kurdistan surrendered after having suffered 100 men killed in the 21 March strikes.
On 28 March 2003, the ground element of Operation Viking Hammer was finally launched with a six-pronged advance, each prong was composed of several ODAs from 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG and upwards of 1,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. The main advance set off towards Sargat – the location of the suspected chemical and biological weapons site; the force was soon pinned down by DShK heavy machine-gun fire from the surrounding hills. A pair of US Navy F/A-18s responded to an urgent CAS request from the force and dropped two 500lb JDAMs on the Ansar al-Islam machine gun nests and strafed the positions with 20mm cannon before departing due to being low on fuel. The advance began again only to be halted once more by fire from prepared DShK and PKM machine gun nests, Green Berets from ODA 081 deployed a Mk 19 grenade launcher from the back of a Toyota Tacoma and suppressed the gun positions allowing the Peshmerga to assault and wipe out the terrorists. After capturing the town of Gulp, the force continued onto the village of Sargat; the village was heavily defended by fortified fighting positions mounting DShKs and mortars along with several BM-21 Grad. Unable to call in airstrikes due to the close proximity of the Peshmerga, a Green Beret sergeant used a dismounted M2 HMG to suppress the entrenched terrorists, his actions allowed the Peshmerga to bring forward their own 82mm Mortars and Grads which forced the Ansar al-Islam fighters to retreat. Task Force Viking advanced to secure the Daramar Gorge – which was surrounded by caves in the rock walls – the Peshmerga were again engaged by small arms fire and RPGs which it and the ODAs returned fire with heavy weapons, however, it became obvious that they couldn't advance any further without air support. To dislodge the terrorists, the Combat Controllers attached to the ODAs vectored in US Navy F/A-18s which dropped six 500 lb JDAMs that shut down any further resistance. During the night, four AC-130 gunships maintained the pressure on the retreating Ansar al-Islam terrorists as they pulled back toward the Iranian border; the next day, Task Force Viking seized the high ground and pushed down through the valley – surrounding and killing small pockets of remnants from Ansar al-Islam. With their objectives completed, the 3rd Battalion and their Peshmerga returned to the green line to assist the push on Kirkuk and Mosul. A specialist SSE team was brought in to document the find at Sargat, the team recovered traces of several chemicals including Ricin along with stocks of NBC protective suits, atropine injectors and Arabic manuals on chemical weapons and IED construction. Estimates of Ansar al-Islam dead number over 300, many of them foreign fighters, whilst only 22 Peshmerga fighters were killed.
2003 invasion of Iraq