American occupation of Ramadi

American occupation of Ramadi; Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate, was occupied by U.S. forces during the Iraq War. It became a center of insurgent activity, with major fighting breaking out in 2004 and 2006. In February 2007, the U.S. launched Operation Murfreesboro to isolate the Ma'Laab district in eastern Ramadi and drive out Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The Euphrates River borders Ramadi to the north and west, while suburbs stretch out to the east and south. The city is also home to the Ramadi Barrage, which channels river water into Lake Habbaniyah.

U.S. troops operated mainly from a few small bases. The main base, later called Camp Blue Diamond, was in a former Saddam palace in the north and was handed over to the Iraqi Army in 2007. Another palace on Highway 10 served as a U.S. military outpost. Several smaller buildings along this road were also used by both U.S. and Iraqi forces. Outside the city, there were safer and better-equipped camps for support units.

Al-Tash refugee camp, located near Ramadi, housed about 13,000 people in 2003. Many had lived there since the 1980s after being displaced during the Iran–Iraq War. The camp was run by the UNHCR and visited by Human Rights Watch in 2003. In 2003, Human Rights Watch visited the camp, finding that some residents had lived there since as early as 1982, when they had been removed from border areas of Iran occupied by Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War.^[1]