Operation Desert Storm

Attack on Khafji

On the evening of January 29, after two weeks of air assaults, the Iraqis mounted their one attack. The Iraqi 5th Mechanized Division attacked southward, capturing the Saudi town of Al Khafji, eight miles south of the Kuwaiti border. The Iraqis repulsed the first Saudi force that attempted a counterattack and, despite massive American air attacks, they held on to the town through the day and night. The next day, however, the Saudis recaptured the town, forcing the remaining Iraqis to flee back to the Kuwaiti border.\