This Day in History: The Persian Gulf War Begins (Saturday, January 16)

This Day in History:, The Persian Gulf War Begins.

January 16, 1991.

The UN midnight deadline for the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait expired, leading to the commencement of Operation Desert Storm.

Beginning at 4:30 p.m.

EST, aircraft from the U.S.-led military coalition pounded targets in and around Baghdad.

During the next six weeks, the allied force engaged in an air war against Iraq’s military and civil infrastructure.

On February 24, a massive coalition ground offensive began, quickly overwhelming Iraq’s outdated and poorly supplied armed forces.

On February 28, President George H.W.

Bush declared a cease-fire.

125 American and an estimated 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed in the Persian Gulf War