- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.
planes and artillery launched a blistering barrage against Baghdad's eastern
flank early on Saturday in what appeared to be a new focus of attack on
the Iraqi capital, witnesses said.
-
- Reuters correspondents in the city said they heard intense
blasts of artillery fire, as well as surface-to-air missiles and bombs
going off in the distance.
-
- "It has really intensified. You can see explosions
across the whole front, missiles, anti-aircraft fire, cruise missiles,"
said Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis.
-
- The ferocious assault on eastern Baghdad came one day
after U.S. troops approached from the southwest to seize the city's international
airport -- the biggest prize so far in the 17-day-old war to overthrow
President Saddam Hussein.
-
- When night fell on Friday, U.S. artillery opened up on
the eastern edges of the city and kept up the attack, casting an orange
pall across the horizon.
-
- After a brief lull in the early hours of Saturday, the
bombing resumed -- planes taking over from the artillery and pummeling
the area where army barracks are believed to be.
-
- Planes also pounded the southestern outskirts of Baghdad
shortly before dawn, with a series of powerful flashes clearly visible
from the city center.
-
- The fight gave many Baghdad residents their first up-close
look at the battle that may will soon overwhelm their city.
-
- "This is by far the most fighting that we have seen
so far in the war. You can smell the powder from the shells in the center,"
said Oweis, who estimated the battle was taking place about 32 km (20 miles)
from his position in the city center.
-
- "We used to hear everything, but now we can see
it."
-
- U.S. commanders moved to beef up their presence at the
airport, calling in soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division and the 94th
battalion to reinforce the 3rd Infantry Division which spearheaded the
attack on the installation.
-
- The arrival of the extra troops will raise the number
of U.S. soldiers at the airport from an estimated 1,500, possibly opening
the way for it to be used as a forward base in any battle for the sprawling
city of five million people.
-
- There was no sign of a non-conventional attack on U.S.
troops, threatened by Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf
on Friday, and there was not especially heavy artillery fire around the
airport, 20 km (12 miles) southwest of the city.
-
- TOUGH BATTLE AHEAD
-
- U.S. military officials say any battle for Baghdad will
not be over quickly. Troops could face street-to-street fighting and guerrilla
warfare, including suicide attacks.
-
- In an apparent effort to rally the Iraqi people, Iraqi
television showed footage of a man it said was Saddam touring the streets
of his bombed capital on Friday.
-
- Smiling, he greeted mobs of chanting admirers, smoke
rising from fires burning in the distance. Some people kissed him on his
cheeks and hands and he held up a small child. "We'll defend you with
our blood and souls, Saddam," one man told him.
-
- Iraqi satellite television showed a videotape on Friday
which it said was of two women who later set off a suicide car bomb outside
Baghdad, killing five people including three U.S. soldiers.
-
- "I swear to God to sacrifice myself in jihad (holy
war) against infidel Americans, British and Israelis to defend my country's
beloved soil," said one of the women, a rifle in her left hand and
her right hand on the Muslim holy book Koran.
-
- Iraqi officials say thousands of Arab volunteers are
ready for suicide missions against U.S.-led forces.
-
- The information minister threatened that Iraq would carry
out "non-conventional" attacks on Friday night, but he said Baghdad
would not use chemical or biological weapons.
-
- Washington and London launched a war on Iraq on March
20 to rid Iraq of alleged chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.
Such arms are sometimes termed "non-conventional."
-
- Iraq has repeatedly denied possessing such weapons.
|
