Operation Tariq al-Qods

Operation Tariq al-Qods (Persian: عملیات طریق القدس‎‎, meaning "Jerusalem Way") was an operation in the Iran–Iraq War launched by Iran to free Bostan.

The battle

The Operation was launched on 29 November 1981 and lasted more than a week. The Iranians used human wave attacks in their offensive for the first time in the war. Fierce fighting raged with the Iraqi defenders for one week. The Iranians were able to successfully liberate Bostan. During the operation Iran lost more than twice as many men as the Iraqis. Even so, the attrition rate was in Iran's favor. Iran was now able to eliminate an important supply route. This was extremely critical because Iraq did not have enough soldiers for a long front line. 2,500 Iraqis and 6,000 Iranians had been killed in the fighting.

References

• "A Hot and Holy War", by Patricia Blake, Time, March 22, 1982.
• The First Gulf War (Iran and Iraq at War in the 1980s)