- NEAR NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) --
US troops backed by tanks killed 650 Iraqis in the central town of Najaf,
a US officer said Wednesday, reporting what appeared to be the most lopsided
victory of the Iraq war so far.
-
- About 200 of the deaths were reported around a storage
depot that has come under scrutiny as a possible chemical weapons factory,
said Major John Altman, intelligence officer of the Third Infantry Division's
First Brigade.
-
- Altman said there were no US casualties in fighting around
the Shiite Muslim center near where they massed for a decisive push on
Baghdad in the drive to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
-
- "An estimated 650 Iraqis were killed over the last
24 hours in the Najaf area," Altman said, while US officials in Washington
earlier put the Iraqi death toll at between 150 and 300.
-
- He said the Iraqi dead included Fedayeen militiamen and
fighters of Saddam's ruling Baath Party who battled with Kalashnikov rifles
and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) against US Abrams tanks and Bradley
fighting vehicles.
-
- Some 250 Iraqis were killed when the First Brigade secrured
a bridge north of Najaf, located 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Baghdad,
Altman said.
-
- Another 200 were killed near the storage depot west of
Najaf and the rest in various other spots. Altman said 300 Iraqis were
taken prisoner and about 100 fled, some perhaps to take up positions as
snipers.
-
- A Pentagon official said a US tank was disabled by grenade
fire in the fighting and two other vehicles of the US Army's 7th Cavalry
Regiment were damaged in the firefight.
-
- Elements of the US Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment engaged
the Iraqis after coming under RPG fire that damaged some US equipment,
said the official, who asked not to be named.
-
- Altman said the Iraqis were attempting to reinforce Najaf
with thousands of elite Republican Guard troops from the town of Karbala,
about 60 kilometers (36 miles) to the north.
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