WITH TIlE 1ST MARINE DWISION IN DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM              45


                      Pbotograph by 1st Marine Division Combat Camera Unit, February 1991
M198 howitzer being fired in support of daylight operations. The Marines are not
weaflng c'zemical protective suits which were typical of their appearance prior to the
grorntd offensive when the suits were always wofl~.

as scheduled, and Saudi and Qatari units launched the main attack at dawn on
31 January. The 5th Battalion, 2d Saudi Army National Guard Brigade, with
ANGLICO naval gunfire spotter teams in support, attacked north and northeast
into Khafii. Two Marine AV-8B Harriers controlled by the ANGLICO teams
destroyed three Iraqi vehicles while the Saudi battalion pushed into the city
capturing 75 Iraqi soldiers.
   Meanwhile, the 7th Battalion, 2d Saudi Army National Guard, supported by
a naval gunfire spotter team, conducted the main Arab attack aimed at rescuing
the two reconnaissance teams. Marines directed two AV-8B Harriers against 17
enemy armored personnel carriers in the city and called in successive flights of
Marine aircraft against enemy vehicles attempting to move into Khafji along the
coastal road. The ANGLICO team even passed control of two Marine AH-lW
Cobras to the reconnaissance teams in an effort to turn back Iraqi forces moving
toward the teams' positions. By 1200 hours, the 7th Battalion reached the
Marines, extracted them, and as night fell, began consolidating their gains in
Khafji in preparation for resuming the attack the following morning. The task
of clearing Khafji fell to the 10th Battalion, Saudi Army National Guard. By
1600 on 1 February, the battalion reached the northern edge of the town and
linked up wifl~ the 5th Battalion.