-Caveat Lector- Print this article | Close this window US troops hurt in friendly fire
March 27 2003, 8:04 PM Dozens of US marines were wounded today in a friendly fire clash near the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyah while the US army beefed up its forces in the north and south, as the war to oust President Saddam Hussein entered its second week. Shell and mortar fire apparently hit the marine command post headquarters near Nasiriyah, leaving 37 wounded, with three in critical and two in serious condition, officers told an AFP correspondent travelling with the troops. The headquarters compound returned fire, officers said, but casualty reports from the other side were not immediately available. A US Central Command spokesman in Qatar said the incident was under investigation. The clash near Nasiriyah, which destroyed at least six military vehicles, came amid renewed air strikes overnight and early today on Baghdad, mainly on the southern edge of the capital, home to the huge Al-Rasheed military camp. Baghdad Baghdad was still trying to recover from yesterday's raids, which Iraqi officials said had cost the lives of at least 14 people in a working-class neighbourhood and left 30 others wounded. The US Central Command acknowledged that coalition fire may have been responsible, but stopped short of confirming the deaths, and accused Baghdad of placing military hardware in civilian areas. US-led forces, who launched a military campaign last Thursday to disarm Iraq and topple Saddam's government, looked to be gearing up for a decisive battle for Baghdad, with their progress toward the seat of power made easier as blinding sandstorms appeared to clear up today. Northern Iraq The coalition opened a new front in northern Iraq after up to 1,000 elite US airborne troops parachuted into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq late yesterday, circumventing Turkey's refusal to allow US troops to cross its soil. Early today, US transport planes landed in the eastern part of Kurdish-held northern Iraq, witnesses said, with US troops seen being deployed near frontlines with the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk. "We are increasing the number of forces in the country every day," said US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "We're increasing them in the north, we're increasing them in the south, we're increasing them in the west." The troops from the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade established a base upon their arrival in Iraqi Kurdistan through which to bring in more troops and tanks, Pentagon officials said. "It's the first sizeable force in northern Iraq," a US defence official said. More coalition troops on the way Some 12,000 troops from the US Army's 4th Infantry Division, initially due to enter Iraq through Turkey, will be deployed to the Gulf today from their Texas base. Ships carrying their tanks and armoured vehicles were diverted to the region last week. The fresh arrivals will back up the offensive, which has put the 3rd Infantry Division on Baghdad's doorstep but exposed its supply lines to guerrilla attacks. One week after war erupted in Iraq, and as the total number of coalition troops in the theatre of operations approached 300,000, Iraqi forces still controlled much of the country and showed few signs of wavering. 'The war could drag on' The Washington Post quoted anonymous military officials as saying that the war could drag on for months and that recent developments had "led to a broad reassessment by some top generals of US military expectations and timelines." In central Iraq, US and British forces heading for Baghdad braced for a tough battle in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, 150 kilometres south of the capital, after meeting continued stiff resistance from Iraqi fighters. Major John Altman, intelligence officer of the Third Infantry Division's First Brigade, told AFP the Iraqis were trying to reinforce Najaf with thousands of crack Republican Guard troops from Karbala, 70 kilometres north. US forces said yesterday they killed about 1,000 Iraqis in three days of intense clashes in and around Najaf. US General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said US forces attacked a column of Iraqi vehicles heading from Baghdad to Karbala but did not elaborate on the size of the Iraqi detachment. Media reports put the number of vehicles at up to 1,000. Coalition defence officials have said the likelihood of Iraqi troops using chemical weapons would increase as US- led troops close in on Baghdad. But since the start of hostilities, US and British forces have not uncovered any of the weapons of mass destruction they accuse Saddam of harbouring. Southern Iraq In the south, Iraqi tanks made a surprise breakout of the besieged southern city of Basra late yesterday and pushed on toward British positions under heavy bombardment, a British officer said. Squadron Leader Simon Scott said he could not confirm the number of tanks involved, but reports said the column was comprised of more than 100 aging Russian-built T-55s backed by artillery pieces and armoured personnel carriers. "They came out of Basra heading south-east. We're not sure why. They're heading toward British positions on the Fao peninsula," Scott said from the coalition command centre in Qatar. Bypassed by US forces moving north, the major cities in the south have also become dangerous staging areas for attacks by ruling Baath party loyalists and the Saddam Fedayeen militia, which is headed by Saddam's eldest son Uday. Reports of attacks in the south have created an impression of chaos and danger throughout the region, but US Major General Stanley McChrystal, deputy director of operations of the Joint Staff, insisted "it has not thrown the force off its plan." "As we continue to move forth, the first and primary objective clearly is to overturn the regime," he said. Protests unabated around the world Anti-war demonstrations raged on unabated around the world, with more than 50,000 protesters marching through the Yemeni capital Sanaa today, calling for a holy war, shouting, "Jihad, jihad, from Sanaa to Baghdad." The country's ministry of religious affairs has asked the population to observe a one-day hunger strike today in solidarity with the Iraqis. In Syria, the country's highest religious authority, mufti Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro, called for suicide bombings against US and British forces in Iraq. World diplomacy On the diplomatic front, most speakers at a public session of the UN Security Council late yesterday condemned the US-led war on Iraq, warning it could spark a widescale humanitarian disaster. And outside Washington, US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were to continue a two-day summit on "geopolitical issues" to be faced in the post-Saddam era. AFP This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/27/1048653801459.html Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. 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