Italian involvement in the Iraq War

Operation Ancient Babylon (Italian: Operazione Antica Babilonia) was the code name given to the deployment of Italian forces during the Iraq War. Their mission lasted from 15 July 2003 to 1 December 2006. The troops were located in and around Nasiriyah.

Italy lost 36 soldiers during the mission, half of them in the 2003 Nasiriyah bombing against the Carabinieri Multinational Specialized Unit base. Italian forces were assisted by Portuguese and Romanian troops.

In March 2003, the invasion of Iraq was launched by a coalition composed mainly of British and US armies, with soldiers from other countries, including Italy, participating. On 1 May 2003, the “end of combat operations” was declared, even though foreign armies never had full control of Iraq, suffering serious losses inflicted by the Iraqi insurgency.

UN Resolution 1483 of 22 May 2003 approved by the United Nations Security Council calls on all states to contribute to the rebirth of Iraq, fostering the security of the Iraqi people and the development of the nation.

Italy participated in Operation Ancient Babylon by providing forces in southern Iraq, with a main base in Nasiriyah.

On 15 April 2003 the Chambers, through the approval of resolutions, authorized the Government to carry out a military mission in Iraq (called Ancient Babylon) for humanitarian purposes. The parliamentary authorization intervened even before the adoption of Resolution 1483 and in a phase in which the difficulty of control of the territory by the occupying authorities and the Iraqi authorities had not yet clearly emerged.

The Italian mission began on 15 July 2003 and is a military operation for the purposes of peacekeeping (maintenance and safeguarding of peace), which has the following objectives:

competition for the restoration of public infrastructures and the reactivation of essential services;