Fighting in Al Hillah began on 31 March 2003 when a platoon from the 101st Airborne Division riding exposed on tanks from 2-70 Armor crossed into southern Al Hillah from Al Kifl, at approximately 0600 AST. There, US forces advanced along Highway 8, protected with air cover. At 0630, an American AH-64 came under fire from Iraqi soldiers entrenched in bunkers, and by 0640 American soldiers were engaged in combat with Iraqi infantry. What followed was intensely fierce urban combat as Coalition forces advanced into Al Hillah, under fire from Republican Guard soldiers and Iraqi infantry.http://lzsally.com/archives/Historian/STRIKE_History_for_31_March_-_06_April_2013.pdf
