The Battle of Baghdad was fought from 3 to 13 April 2003 when United States forces entered the Iraqi capital of Baghdad at the culmination of the invasion of Iraq, toppling Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime.
Limited bombing began on 19 March 2003 when the United States unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Saddam, and small-scale attacks continued until 21 March, when the USA and the United Kingdom stepped up their bombing campaigns. On that day, the Coalition engaged in 1,700 air sorties, 504 of them using cruise missiles. Three days later, the US 8th Infantry Division secured the Baghdad International Airport, skirmishing with the Iraqi Republican Guard. By 3 April 2003, the Coalition was attacking Baghdad with 1,000 sorties a day, and the 3rd Infantry Division and the US 1st Marine Division faced 36,000 Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers protected by a string of bunkers, and armed with Asad Babil tanks and heavy artillery. Retired general Barry McCaffrey predicted that the Americans might suffer 3,000 casualties in the ensuing battle.
US planes dropped 200,000 propaganda leaflets over Baghdad warning civilians to leave their homes before Royal Air Force planes destroyed the radar defense systems protecting the Iraqi capital. On 4 April 2003, a Marine tank battalion had a stiff fight with the Republican Guard's al-Nida Division, Fedayeen Saddam, and foreign Islamist fighters on the outskirts of Baghdad at al-Tuwayhah, losing a tank in the process. The Americans also secured Saddam International Airport, the Ba'athists' best-defended position of the war, after a heavy fight. On 7 April 2003, US troops captured Tharthar Palace along the Tigris River. By that point, the Iraqi government officials in Baghdad had either disappeared or conceded defeat. On 8 April 2003, 500 Iraqi soldiers mounted a fierce counterattack across the Jumhuriya Bridge, but they were repelled with 50 losses. As American forces secured the capital, Iraqi civilians began to loot Saddam's palaces; even hospitals were attacked, and other hospitals hired local civilians to serve as armed guards. Only 35 of the 700 animals in the Baghdad Zoo survived the invasion, as many had either starved to death or been used as food by the starving locals. On 9 April, Baghdad was formally occupied by Coalition forces, but much of Baghdad remained unsecured and offered resistance well into the period of occupation. Before a crowd of international press, the US Marine Corps tore down a statue of Saddam in Firdos Square, symbolically overthrowing him. Kirkuk would be liberated on 10 April and Saddam's home of Tikrit on 15 April.