G-khan
03-23-2003, 01:31 PM
By Sean Evers
London, March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Allied forces pressed toward Baghdad, encountering resistance in key towns in the south after carrying out bombing and missile raids on Iraq's main cities.
Armored columns crossed the Euphrates river, U.S. Major General Stanley McChrystal said. They are within 100 miles of Baghdad, Sky News said. A U.K. warplane missing over Iraq may have been brought down by a U.S. Patriot anti-missile battery, the U.K. said. The incident followed two helicopter crashes since the conflict began Thursday.
There was fighting at Najaf, 100 miles south of the capital, the British Broadcasting Corp. said. U.S. infantry units are fighting Iraqi troops at As Samawah south of Najaf, the Associated Press said. Two U.S. soldiers were captured by Iraq, Vice President Yassin Ramadan said, and will be shown on Iraqi television. The Pentagon denied the capture, Sky News said.
``The American armored force is making rapid progress north toward Baghdad,'' U.K. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said. ''Things are going to plan, in some cases ahead of what we had expected.''
Resistance may be greater closer to the capital, Hoon said. The regime ``might decide to use chemical or biological weapons,'' Hoon told the BBC. ``We've known all along the determination of the regime to protect Baghdad.''
There are conflicting reports over allied control of Basra, Iraq's second city, and Nassiriya, on the road north to Baghdad, where the final battle front to dislodge the regime of Saddam Hussein is expected by coalition commanders. The U.S. and U.K. are trying to oust Hussein, secure the country's oilfields and destroy any banned weapons the regime may possess.
Basra Abandoned
Iraq's ``regular army has abandoned Basra,'' Hoon said. Resistance from ``shadowy secret services'' is being left in place at the moment, Hoon said. ``We're left with elements of the regime that have nothing to lose by fighting on because they're reviled and hated by the Iraqi people.''
Allied warplanes bombed Basra last night, the BBC reported. At least 77 people were killed and 366 wounded, the BBC quoted Iraqi officials as saying.
Coalition forces won't allow the fighting at Basra to delay the push to the Iraqi capital, Hoon said.
Basra is covered in black haze from fires lit to confuse allied warplanes as a three-mile-long column of U.S. troops move north toward Baghdad, the BBC said.
The battle to take Baghdad may start Tuesday, Reuters cited a U.K. defense official as saying.
Resistance
Iraqi irregulars loyal to Hussein are resisting allied forces trying to take control of a route north through Nassiriya, the BBC quoted U.S. marines as saying. Sky News said Iraq has reinforced its units at the town and a battle is underway.
Iraqi units resisting allied forces are each being reinforced by small groups of Republican Guard officers, strengthening their will to fight, Sky News said. The regular troops sometimes fight on under pressure, as secret service forces stand behind them with loaded weapons, Hoon said.
Clashes are taking place today with Iraqis holding out for a third day in an area of the southern port of Umm Qasr, the BBC reported. Sky said the fighting has ended. After two strikes by U.K. Harrier aircraft some Iraqis surrendered, Reuters said. Small pockets of resistance in built-up areas remain, it said.
Control of the port will give access to the Persian Gulf and allow military supplies and humanitarian aid to be brought into Iraq.
Iraqi forces in the area are in ``significant disarray,'' U.K. Air Marshall Brian Burridge said. Burridge is the commander of U.K. forces in the Persian Gulf.
Explosions in Baghdad
After a night of attacks, explosions were heard in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul early today, Agence France-Presse reported. In the past 24 hours, U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft flew about 1,500 sorties, including 800 combat missions over Iraq, the military command said.
``There seems to be confusion in the command and control,'' Victoria Clarke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said of the Iraqi forces. The U.S. is maintaining communications with Iraqi commanders to try to persuade them to lay down their weapons, Clark said.
U.S. units advanced from Basra leaving U.K. soldiers controlling the area, AP reported. Allied forces didn't detect large numbers of Iraqi forces in the city, General Tommy Franks, the commander-in-chief of U.S. forces, said yesterday.
``Our intent is not to move through and create military confrontations in that city,'' Franks said. ``We will work with Basra and the citizens in Basra. This is about liberation and not short occupation.''
Helicopter gunships fired on targets in and around Basra late yesterday as some Iraqi units put up resistance, the Washington Post reported. Basra, lying on the Shatt al Arab waterway leading to the Persian Gulf, has a population of more than 600,000 people.
Coalition aircraft dropped precision guided ordnance on about 500 targets in attacks conducted all over Iraq in the past 24 hours, an Air Force spokesman, said. The weapons used included cruise missiles and laser or satellite-guided bombs.
Iraqi government officials said yesterday three Iraqis were killed and 207 injured in the bombing of Baghdad, the BBC reported.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Energy%20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_energy&refer=topfin&T=markets_box.ht&s2=ad_right1_all&bt=ad_position1_energy&box=ad_box_all2&tag=energy&middle=ad_frame2_energy&s=APn216xV_QWxsaWVk
London, March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Allied forces pressed toward Baghdad, encountering resistance in key towns in the south after carrying out bombing and missile raids on Iraq's main cities.
Armored columns crossed the Euphrates river, U.S. Major General Stanley McChrystal said. They are within 100 miles of Baghdad, Sky News said. A U.K. warplane missing over Iraq may have been brought down by a U.S. Patriot anti-missile battery, the U.K. said. The incident followed two helicopter crashes since the conflict began Thursday.
There was fighting at Najaf, 100 miles south of the capital, the British Broadcasting Corp. said. U.S. infantry units are fighting Iraqi troops at As Samawah south of Najaf, the Associated Press said. Two U.S. soldiers were captured by Iraq, Vice President Yassin Ramadan said, and will be shown on Iraqi television. The Pentagon denied the capture, Sky News said.
``The American armored force is making rapid progress north toward Baghdad,'' U.K. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said. ''Things are going to plan, in some cases ahead of what we had expected.''
Resistance may be greater closer to the capital, Hoon said. The regime ``might decide to use chemical or biological weapons,'' Hoon told the BBC. ``We've known all along the determination of the regime to protect Baghdad.''
There are conflicting reports over allied control of Basra, Iraq's second city, and Nassiriya, on the road north to Baghdad, where the final battle front to dislodge the regime of Saddam Hussein is expected by coalition commanders. The U.S. and U.K. are trying to oust Hussein, secure the country's oilfields and destroy any banned weapons the regime may possess.
Basra Abandoned
Iraq's ``regular army has abandoned Basra,'' Hoon said. Resistance from ``shadowy secret services'' is being left in place at the moment, Hoon said. ``We're left with elements of the regime that have nothing to lose by fighting on because they're reviled and hated by the Iraqi people.''
Allied warplanes bombed Basra last night, the BBC reported. At least 77 people were killed and 366 wounded, the BBC quoted Iraqi officials as saying.
Coalition forces won't allow the fighting at Basra to delay the push to the Iraqi capital, Hoon said.
Basra is covered in black haze from fires lit to confuse allied warplanes as a three-mile-long column of U.S. troops move north toward Baghdad, the BBC said.
The battle to take Baghdad may start Tuesday, Reuters cited a U.K. defense official as saying.
Resistance
Iraqi irregulars loyal to Hussein are resisting allied forces trying to take control of a route north through Nassiriya, the BBC quoted U.S. marines as saying. Sky News said Iraq has reinforced its units at the town and a battle is underway.
Iraqi units resisting allied forces are each being reinforced by small groups of Republican Guard officers, strengthening their will to fight, Sky News said. The regular troops sometimes fight on under pressure, as secret service forces stand behind them with loaded weapons, Hoon said.
Clashes are taking place today with Iraqis holding out for a third day in an area of the southern port of Umm Qasr, the BBC reported. Sky said the fighting has ended. After two strikes by U.K. Harrier aircraft some Iraqis surrendered, Reuters said. Small pockets of resistance in built-up areas remain, it said.
Control of the port will give access to the Persian Gulf and allow military supplies and humanitarian aid to be brought into Iraq.
Iraqi forces in the area are in ``significant disarray,'' U.K. Air Marshall Brian Burridge said. Burridge is the commander of U.K. forces in the Persian Gulf.
Explosions in Baghdad
After a night of attacks, explosions were heard in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul early today, Agence France-Presse reported. In the past 24 hours, U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft flew about 1,500 sorties, including 800 combat missions over Iraq, the military command said.
``There seems to be confusion in the command and control,'' Victoria Clarke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said of the Iraqi forces. The U.S. is maintaining communications with Iraqi commanders to try to persuade them to lay down their weapons, Clark said.
U.S. units advanced from Basra leaving U.K. soldiers controlling the area, AP reported. Allied forces didn't detect large numbers of Iraqi forces in the city, General Tommy Franks, the commander-in-chief of U.S. forces, said yesterday.
``Our intent is not to move through and create military confrontations in that city,'' Franks said. ``We will work with Basra and the citizens in Basra. This is about liberation and not short occupation.''
Helicopter gunships fired on targets in and around Basra late yesterday as some Iraqi units put up resistance, the Washington Post reported. Basra, lying on the Shatt al Arab waterway leading to the Persian Gulf, has a population of more than 600,000 people.
Coalition aircraft dropped precision guided ordnance on about 500 targets in attacks conducted all over Iraq in the past 24 hours, an Air Force spokesman, said. The weapons used included cruise missiles and laser or satellite-guided bombs.
Iraqi government officials said yesterday three Iraqis were killed and 207 injured in the bombing of Baghdad, the BBC reported.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Energy%20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_energy&refer=topfin&T=markets_box.ht&s2=ad_right1_all&bt=ad_position1_energy&box=ad_box_all2&tag=energy&middle=ad_frame2_energy&s=APn216xV_QWxsaWVk