- Around 20 US troops were killed in action in the toughest
day of the war so far, military chiefs have said.
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- Twelve were killed in an ambush outside the southern
town of Nasiriyah and up to 10 more were killed in fighting in the same
area.
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- Lt General John Abizaid told a press conference at US
Central Command in Qatar: "We are definitely missing 12 soldiers unaccounted
for, some of whom I believe ended up on Baghdad television.
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- "A number were killed in action in Nasiriyah with
the Marines - I believe that number will remain less than 10 plus a number
wounded."
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- He said the ambushed convoy had probably resulted from
a young officer making a wrong decision.
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- "It was probably like many tragic incidents in war,
a young officer leading its convoy made a wrong turn and went somewhere
he wasn't supposed to.
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- "There weren't combat forces there, they arrived
at some point and extricated some of the survivors."
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- Abizaid said that fighting around the city of Nassariya
was the "sharpest engagement" of the four-day war in Iraq so
far.
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- Abizaid said it would take a long time to ensure that
Iraqi "regime support elements" are brought under control in
cities like Basra and Nassiriya.
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- "I think all of us should understand that in these
very large urban areas it will take a long time to ensure that various
regime support elements are brought under control," he added.
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- http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-12274708,00.html
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