"Iraq uprising" redirects here. For the uprising in 1920, see Iraqi Revolt.
1991 Iraqi uprisings
Part of the aftermath of the Gulf War
An Iraqi government tank disabled by rebels
Date
1 March – 5 April 1991
Location
Iraq
Result
Iraqi government military victory
Territorial changes
Establishment of the Kurdistan Autonomous Republic, as well as the Iraqi no-fly zones
Belligerents
Government
Ba'ath Party
Iraqi Army
Republican Guard
Special Republican Guard
Popular Army
General Security
Intelligence Service
Special Security
Shia and leftist elements of opposition:
SCIRI/Badr Brigades
Dawa
Communist Party
Pro-Syrian Ba'athists
Army and militia deserters/defectors
Kurdish rebels: Peshmerga:
KDP
PUK
Kurdish mujahideen
CPK
PDKI
Support: MEK
Support: United States[1] Iran[2] Syria
Commanders and leaders
Saddam Hussein (Commander-in-Chief) Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Hussein Kamel Ali Hassan al-Majid Taha Yasin Tariq Aziz Qusay Hussein
Mohammad Baqir (Commander-in-Chief) Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Hadi al-Amiri Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi Massoud Barzani Jalal Talabani
Strength
c. 300,000[3]
c. 59,000–107,000
SCIRI: c. 40,000–50,000[3]
KDP: c. 15,000–45,000[3]
PUK: c. 4,000–12,000[3]
Casualties and losses
c. 5,000 killed or captured[4]
c. 25,000–180,000 killed (mostly civilians)[5][6][7]
v
t
e
Persian Gulf Wars
Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)
Gulf War (1990–1991)
Invasion of Kuwait (1990)
Iraqi Kurdish/Shi'a uprisings (1991)
Iraq no-fly zones conflict (1991–2003)
Iraq air strikes (January 1993)
Iraq missile strikes (1993)
Iraq missile strikes (1996)
Iraq bombing (1998)
1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
Iraqi conflict (2003–present)
Iraq War (2003–2011)
Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006)
Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)
Iraqi insurgency (2008–2011)
Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)
War in Iraq (2013–2017)
Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present)
Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan
v
t
e
1991 Iraqi uprisings
Southern Iraq
Basra
Karbala
Saddam City
Northern Iraq/Kurdistan Region
Sulaymaniyah
Zakho
Kirkuk
Tuz Khormato
Yeşilova
v
t
e
Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
Early conflicts
Mahmud Barzanji revolts
Ahmed Barzani revolt
1943 Barzani revolt
Main phase
First Iraqi–Kurdish War
Second Iraqi–Kurdish War
PUK insurgency
Arabization campaigns
1983–1986 Kurdish rebellions
Anfal campaign
1991 uprisings
Later phase
1994–97 Civil War
2003 invasion of Iraq
2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
Kirkuk
2023 Makhmour clashes
The 1991 Iraqi uprisings were ethnic and religious uprisings against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq that were led by Shi'ites and Kurds. The uprisings lasted from March to April 1991 after a ceasefire following the end of the Gulf War. The mostly uncoordinated insurgency was fueled by the perception that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had become vulnerable to regime change. This perception of weakness was largely the result of the outcome of the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War, both of which occurred within a single decade and devastated the population and economy of Iraq.[8]
Within the first two weeks, most of Iraq's cities and provinces fell to rebel forces. Participants in the uprising were of diverse ethnic, religious and political affiliations, including military mutineers, Shia Arab Islamists, Kurdish nationalists, Kurdish Islamists, and far-left groups. Following initial victories, the revolution was held back from continued success by internal divisions as well as a lack of anticipated American and/or Iranian support. Saddam's Sunni Arab-dominated Ba'ath Party regime managed to maintain control over the capital of Baghdad and soon largely suppressed the rebels in a brutal campaign conducted by loyalist forces spearheaded by the Iraqi Republican Guard.
During the brief, roughly one-month period of unrest, tens of thousands of people died and nearly two million people were displaced. After the conflict, the Iraqi government intensified a prior systematic forced relocation of Marsh Arabs and the draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. The Gulf War Coalition established Iraqi no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq, and the Kurdish opposition established the Kurdish Autonomous Republic in Iraqi Kurdistan.
^Colgan, Jeff D. (January 31, 2013). Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War. Cambridge University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-107-31129-9.
^Terrill, W. Andrew (2004). The United States and Iraq's Shi'ite Clergy: Partners Or Adversaries?. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-58487-153-8.
^ abcdUppsala conflict data expansion: Non-State Actor Data: Version 3.3 Archived February 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine pp. 146; 217; 218; 502
^ENDLESS TORMENT: The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath. Human Rights Watch. 1992. ISBN 1-56432-069-3. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
^"2 Mass Graves in Iraq Unearthed". LA Times. June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
^"'Chemical Ali' on trial for brutal crushing of Shia uprising". The Guardian. August 22, 2007. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^"ENDLESS TORMENT, The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath". Hrw.org. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
^Cline, Lawrence E. (August 8, 2000). "View of The Prospects of the Shia Insurgency Movement in Iraq | Journal of Conflict Studies". Journal of Conflict Studies. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
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Global Information
MEK
United States[1]
Iran[2]
Syria
Saddam Hussein
Mohammad Baqir
Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi
Massoud Barzani
Jalal Talabani
