Operation Promises of Peace

Operation Promises of Peace was an Iraqi offensive in Maysan province against the Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM).

Following the clearing of Basra, Iraqi soldiers with the 1st Iraqi Army Division, who were
sent from Anbar at the onset of Operation Knight’s Charge, entered Maysan province to
continue their offensive against Shi’a militants. On June 12, large numbers of Iraqi Security Forces arrived in the province and began preparatory operations—fanning
out through the provincial capital of Amarah; reconnoitering and clearing key routes; and replacing the guards along the Iranian border to interdict criminal movements. Like he did in the Basra and Sadr City offensives, Prime Minister Maliki also gave an ultimatum for gunmen in Maysan to turn in their weapons. On June 19, the day the ultimatum expired, the Iraqi Security Forces launched Operation Promise of Peace, to clear JAM and Special Groups criminals from Amarah.¹ The security offensive in Maysan met with minimal enemy resistance; Sadrist politicians and clerics, wishing to avoid the destruction that accompanied the push into Sadr City, instructed their followers not to resist the government’s operations. Moreover, any Special Groups and JAM leaders that remained in Maysan in the wake of the Baghdad and Basra offensives fled to Iran before the operations commenced in Amarah.  By late June, Coalition and Iraqi operationsin Baghdad and southern Iraq had significantly weakened Special Groups and JAM networks. The Government of Iraq, in conjunction with Coalition Forces, also worked to accelerate reconstruction and humanitarian assistance efforts.

Excerpted from Marisa Cochrane, "Special Groups Regenerate," Iraq Report 11, Institute for the Study of War.

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1.  Multi-National Corps-Iraq Press Release No.20080620-06, “ISF clear insurgents out of Amrah,” Multi-National Corps-Iraq PAO, June 20, 2008.