Highway of Death

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The Highway of Death (Arabic: طريق الموت ṭarīq al-mawt) is a six-lane highway connecting Kuwait and Iraq, officially known as Highway 80. It runs from Kuwait City to the border town of Safwan in Iraq and then on to the Iraqi city of Basra. The road was used by Iraqi armored divisions for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It was repaired after the Gulf War and used by U.S. and British forces in the initial stages of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. During the American-led Coalition offensive in the Persian Gulf War, American, Canadian, British, and French aircraft and ground forces attacked retreating Iraqi military personnel attempting to leave Kuwait on the night of February 26–27, 1991, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of vehicles and the deaths of many of their occupants. Between 1,400 and 2,000 vehicles were hit or abandoned on the main Highway 80 north of Al Jahra. The scenes of devastation on the road are some of the most recognizable images of the war, and it has been suggested that...

Read on Wikipedia · Image TECH. SGT. JOE COLEMAN, Public domain