- NEAR NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters)
- Burned-out vehicles and incinerated bodies littered a plain in central
Iraq on Sunday after U.S. forces overwhelmed Iraqi militia fighters in
a battle south of the holy city of Najaf.
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- U.S. armored infantry and tanks took control of the plain
in the early hours of Sunday after a battle of more than seven hours against
Iraqi forces who were armed with machine guns mounted on the back of Japanese
pick-up trucks.
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- Najaf lies just 100 miles south of Baghdad.
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- On the main road running across the plain, burned-out
Iraqi vehicles were still smoldering on Sunday afternoon, and charred ribs
were the only recognizable part of three melted bodies in a destroyed car
lying in the roadside dust.
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- "It wasn't even a fair fight. I don't know why they
don't just surrender," said Colonel Mark Hildenbrand, commander of
the 937th Engineer Group.
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- "When you're playing soccer at home, 3-2 is a fair
score, but here it's more like 119-0," he said, adding that the Iraqi
sport utility vehicles (SUVs) stood no chance against tanks.
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- "You can't put an SUV with a machine gun up against
an M1 tank -- it's heinous for the SUV," Hildenbrand said.
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- U.S. FORCES ADVANCE TOWARD BAGHDAD
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- The fighting began late on Saturday as forces from the
U.S. 3rd Infantry Division pushed on with their swift drive north toward
Baghdad.
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- Iraqi bodies shot as they lay in sniper positions by
the side of the road suggested the militiamen were hoping to ambush U.S.
forces moving across the plain, a strategic area on the west bank of the
Euphrates river.
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- Forward U.S. reconnaissance units took some initial fire
from the militia before armored infantry, tanks, artillery and combined
air support were called in.
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- "The tanks took out all the militia vehicles and
then infantry cleared the area slowly and steadily on foot," said
Lieutenant-Colonel Bernie Lindstrom of the 937th, who was in the area during
the fighting.
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- "The booms and bangs began at about 9.00 p.m. (1800
GMT Saturday) and the area wasn't totally secured until about four or five
o'clock this morning. It was hectic for a while."
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- Hildenbrand said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was trying
to use the militia as a guerrilla-type force. But the militiamen appeared
hopelessly ill-prepared to deal with the sheer firepower that the U.S.
military can throw at them.
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- Dead soldiers shown to reporters were not wearing any
standard uniform and had only open-toed sandals on their feet. Helmets
lying near their bodies were made of plastic, not Kevlar.
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- The only common item appeared to be a black beret with
an eagle and standard badge at the front.
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- A desert hideout Hildenbrand said had been used by a
militiaman in recent days showed the hardship many ordinary Iraqi soldiers
face.
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- The soldier had only a filthy blanket to protect him
from the cold desert nights, and for food he had only a plastic bag full
of raw meat. When he fled, he left behind a picture of his two children.
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- "I feel nothing but sorrow for these people,"
Hildenbrand said as he toured the hideout. "This war is against one
man, it's not against the Iraqi people. I just wish they would surrender
so we could get it over with."
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