On the 60th Anniversary of the Battle of As-Samu .. A Memorable Day in Jordanian Military History
Al-Taj News – Today, Thursday, marks the 60th anniversary of the Battle of As-Samu, where a shiver of joy at victory and the ecstasy of pride in this Hashemite Arab Army flow through the veins, and hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of God as they recite the Word of Truth for the souls of the martyrs of As-Samu, Al-Karameh, Latrun, Bab Al-Wad, Jerusalem, the War of Attrition, and the Golan, where the blood of successors mingles with the blood of predecessors, and where pure blood flowed in Yarmouk of glory, Hattin, Mu’tah, Fahl, and Al-Karameh.
Course of the Battle
The battle of the town of As-Samu, south of Hebron, broke out on the morning of this day in 1966 between the Jordanian Army and the Israeli Army and lasted no more than 5 hours. Information indicates that the forces of the Jordanian Arab Army entered As-Samu and managed to preserve this village, protect its people, and repulse the invading forces, despite Israeli air superiority and its field control over the battlefield, in addition to the advance of its ground forces and attacking Rafat, Al-Asifer, As-Samu, and other sites in the West Bank.
The Royal Jordanian Air Force managed to shoot down (3) Israeli Mirage aircraft, and human and material losses were inflicted on the Israeli forces amounting to more than (50) casualties between killed and wounded, and the destruction of (10) tanks and (12) vehicles and troop carriers after the Jordanian Army engaged them, fighting with valor to the point of hand-to-hand combat with bladed weapons; which led to the repulse of the enemy and its withdrawal within less than (5) hours from the start of the battle.
Eng. Salah Fahd Al-Ghubain says: The responsibility for defending this front was entrusted to the Jordanian Infantry Brigade “Hattin,” led by Staff Colonel Bahjat Al-Muhaisen. So the commander of the 37th Abdullah bin Rawahah Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Fahd Maqboul Al-Ghubain, ordered to rescue the people of the village and launch a counter-attack to repulse and defeat the enemy, with limited participation from the Zaid bin Harithah Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Awad Shihab, and the Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi Battalion led by Major Ahmad As’ad Ghanem. Lieutenant Colonel Fahd Maqboul Al-Ghubain, commander of the Abdullah bin Rawahah Battalion, divided the attacking Jordanian force into two forces toward As-Samu: the first via Adh-Dhahiriya, and the second via “Yatta,” under intensive aerial bombardment and ambushes deployed by the enemy on the axes of advance to prevent the Jordanians from intervening at the appropriate time.
Information includes that 13 soldiers were martyred in this battle, in addition to Major Mohammad Daifallah Al-Habahbeh and Pilot Lieutenant Muwaffaq Badr Al-Salti, and the commander of the Hattin Brigade, Colonel Bahjat Al-Muhaisen, was wounded in the battle alongside 22 military personnel, while the Israeli forces retreated after the killing of the commander of the Israeli Paratroopers Brigade, Colonel Yoav Shaham.
