The Battle of Al Hillah was an armed military confrontation between military elements of the United States and Iraq during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Prior to the Iraq War, the ancient city of Al Hillah was home to numerous bases for the Iraqi Medina division of the Iraqi Republican Guard. As a main objective of the invasion of Iraq was to disable the Republican Guard, this made Al Hillah an important target for Coalition forces, as well as the fact that Al Hillah lay in the path of the planned Coalition advance Najaf.