During Post-invasion Iraq, Operation Iron Saber was a coalition strike aimed at defeating the Mahdi Army under the control of Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf, Al Kut and Karbala. The major United States unit involved was Task Force 1/37 Bandits
Launched in April 2004, and after intense urban warfare which involved Mahdi militiamen taking refuge in mosques, coalition forces had defeated the Mahdi army by June and had forced a cease-fire with al-Sadr.
