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On February 24, a massive coalition ground offensive began, quickly overwhelming Iraq’s outdated and poorly supplied armed forces.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