Security and counterinsurgency: killing of Uday and Qusay Hussein, Saddam Hussein’s sons.

Uday and Qusay Hussein, the sons of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, were killed in an operation by U.S. forces in Mosul, Iraq, on July 22, 2003.

The operation took place at a villa in the northern Iraqi city, where the brothers were hiding. U.S. forces had received a tip from an informant that Uday and Qusay were in the villa. The informant was later rewarded with $30 million by the U.S. government – $15 million for each of the sons.

The U.S. forces, mainly from the 101st Airborne Division, surrounded the villa and called for the inhabitants to surrender. When they received fire instead, a heavy firefight ensued. The U.S. forces used various weapons, including .50 caliber sniper rifles and TOW missiles, to try to kill the occupants of the villa.

After several hours, U.S. forces stormed the villa and found the bodies of Uday and Qusay, along with Qusay’s 14-year-old son Mustapha, and another bodyguard.

The deaths of Uday and Qusay were considered a significant event in the early years of the Iraq War. The two were high on the U.S. military’s “most-wanted” list due to their roles in their father’s regime, and their deaths were seen as a blow to the Ba’athist resistance that had been fighting the U.S.-led occupation.

The bodies were later displayed to the media to confirm their deaths, which had been the subject of rumors and misinformation. The U.S. military used dental records, X-rays, and former regime members to positively identify the bodies. The decision to display the bodies was controversial and sparked a debate about the ethics of doing so.