The Iraq Spring Fighting of 2004 (April 4, 2004 – June 24, 2004) was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war: before, the conflict was simply US/Coalition versus insurgents, but the Spring Fighting marked the entrance of militias and religiously based (Shi'a and Sunni) militant Iraqi groups, such as the Mahdi Army into the arena of conflict.