Spring Break
A push toward Baghdad
Juan O. Tamayo, Sudarsan Raghavan, and Martin Merzer
Issue date: 3/26/03 Section: News
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NEAR NASIRIYAH, Iraq (KRT) — A rippling yellow curtain of sandstorms slowed — but did not halt — the coalition’s advance on Baghdad as U.S. troops battled a large enemy force Tuesday, killing hundreds of Iraqis on the road to the capital.
In Basra, the nation’s second largest city, hazy reports emerged of a possible uprising against Saddam Hussein.
Near Najaf, about 100 miles southwest of Baghdad, the Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment came under heavy fire from Iraqis armed with rocket-propelled grenades, according to a senior defense official at the Pentagon.
“We did not engage them,” he said. “They engaged us.”
Details were sketchy, but the U.S. troops reportedly repelled the attack, killing as many as 300 Iraqi fighters. No U.S. casualties were immediately reported in the engagement.
With what could be the most decisive battle of the war looming over the horizon in Baghdad, more U.S. troops closed in on the city. Artillery pounded Republican Guard positions that stood in the way. Airstrikes battered Iraqi missile sites just outside the capital.
And nearly everyone cursed and endured the storm. “It looks like it’s raining sand,” said Marine Capt. Neil Murphy.
As supplies of food, water and other necessities dwindled in Basra, the British media reported a popular uprising there. Most of the city’s 1.3 million people are Shiite Muslims who historically have chafed under Saddam’s Sunni-dominated regime.
The nature of the rebellion was not clear. Unconfirmed reports claimed that thousands of residents rampaged through the city Tuesday evening, setting fires. The British Broadcasting Corp. said Iraqi troops fired mortar rounds at defiant civilians and, in response, British artillery bombarded the 1,000 Iraqi paramilitary troops there.
British military officials, with limited access to Basra, said the situation was difficult to assess. They acknowledged some form of rebellion there, but said its scope, duration, targets and leaders were unknown.
In Basra, the nation’s second largest city, hazy reports emerged of a possible uprising against Saddam Hussein.
Near Najaf, about 100 miles southwest of Baghdad, the Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment came under heavy fire from Iraqis armed with rocket-propelled grenades, according to a senior defense official at the Pentagon.
“We did not engage them,” he said. “They engaged us.”
Details were sketchy, but the U.S. troops reportedly repelled the attack, killing as many as 300 Iraqi fighters. No U.S. casualties were immediately reported in the engagement.
With what could be the most decisive battle of the war looming over the horizon in Baghdad, more U.S. troops closed in on the city. Artillery pounded Republican Guard positions that stood in the way. Airstrikes battered Iraqi missile sites just outside the capital.
And nearly everyone cursed and endured the storm. “It looks like it’s raining sand,” said Marine Capt. Neil Murphy.
As supplies of food, water and other necessities dwindled in Basra, the British media reported a popular uprising there. Most of the city’s 1.3 million people are Shiite Muslims who historically have chafed under Saddam’s Sunni-dominated regime.
The nature of the rebellion was not clear. Unconfirmed reports claimed that thousands of residents rampaged through the city Tuesday evening, setting fires. The British Broadcasting Corp. said Iraqi troops fired mortar rounds at defiant civilians and, in response, British artillery bombarded the 1,000 Iraqi paramilitary troops there.
British military officials, with limited access to Basra, said the situation was difficult to assess. They acknowledged some form of rebellion there, but said its scope, duration, targets and leaders were unknown.
