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Baghdad airport under partial US control
Near Baghdad, Apr 04: US 3rd Infantry occupied a part of the Baghdad airport today and sealed the entrance closest to the Capital. Fierce fighting is on at the airport and as many as 400 Iraqi soldiers are believed to have been killed in their combat with US forces, who are attempting to fully seize the strategic prize of Saddam Hussein`s seat of power.
Near Baghdad, Apr 04: US 3rd Infantry occupied a part of the Baghdad airport today and sealed the entrance closest to the Capital. Fierce fighting is on at the airport and as many as 400 Iraqi soldiers are believed to have been killed in their combat with US forces, who are attempting to fully seize the strategic prize of Saddam Hussein's seat of power.
While the US forces are moving on the tarmac of the airport, the control room is apparently still under Iraqi authority. Tanks of the allied forces are believed to have rumbled through the entrance of the sprawling Saddam International Airport, past a building-high portrait of the saluting Iraqi leader.
Gunshots were heard from inside the airport, and it was unclear how many Iraqi troops remained in the premises, about 16 kms southwest of central Baghdad.
In an assault that began at dusk yesterday, two battalions of the 1st Brigade Division moved in from the north and south to seize the main nearly four-km runway, and combat patrols were moving through the area to search out Iraqi force, Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, commander of the 7th Infantry Regiment, told a news agency. One of the key objectives of the allies is to scour the airport that has numerous military and civilian buildings and bring it completely under their control. Securing it will allow coalition forces to bring in more troops and military equipment in the capital.
The US Marines 1st Division is massed on the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad today after hours of pushing up the Tigris River with little resistance past abandoned Iraqi positions.
Baghadad remained without electricity (that went out across the city at about 8 pm local time) and water after its first blackout of the war overnight.
In Washington, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared that their troops had reached Baghdad`s outskirts. It was unclear why the power was cut-off. Myers said the US military did not target the city`s power grid. Most of Baghdad` s power comes from the al-Doura power station south of the capital. After the outage, the city was quiet except for the sound of generators.
Amid the explosions, Iraq television aired footage of a relaxed and smiling Saddam Hussein meeting with more than a dozen senior government and Ba`ath Party officials, including Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.
The TV announcer quoted Saddam as saying: "Victory is sure, and is in our hands, after we depend on God. We see it (victory) in our consciences and hearts." Saddam, dressed in military garb, urged Iraqis to "fight and be steadfast and be up to the level of the challenge and danger until we defeat the enemy and achieve victory," the announcer said.
Earlier, Saddam exhorted Iraqis to "fight them with your hands," according to a statement read yesterday by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf.
Al-Sahhaf, meanwhile, disputed coalition claims of battle successes yesterday. "All this is to cover their disappointment and inability."
The information minister said Republican Guard forces battled coalition troops in the area al Kut and "taught them lessons, a catastrophe," inflicting heavy casualties and forcing a coalition retreat. "We buried a lot of them today," he said.
"We`re now trying to exhaust them, making them more tired until our leadership decides the time and method to clean our territory of their desecration," al-Sahhaf said.
Foreign journalists were taken to the international Baghdad trade fair grounds yesterday, a day after airstrikes hit the upscale al-Mansour district. The center hosts an annual trade show, one of the Arab world’s largest.
The headquarters of Iraqi intelligence, which have already been hit more than once by coalition aircraft, are located behind the complex. Security was tight in the area, with some dozen heavily armed security men guarding the site.
Bureau Report
In an assault that began at dusk yesterday, two battalions of the 1st Brigade Division moved in from the north and south to seize the main nearly four-km runway, and combat patrols were moving through the area to search out Iraqi force, Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, commander of the 7th Infantry Regiment, told a news agency. One of the key objectives of the allies is to scour the airport that has numerous military and civilian buildings and bring it completely under their control. Securing it will allow coalition forces to bring in more troops and military equipment in the capital.
The US Marines 1st Division is massed on the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad today after hours of pushing up the Tigris River with little resistance past abandoned Iraqi positions.
Baghadad remained without electricity (that went out across the city at about 8 pm local time) and water after its first blackout of the war overnight.
In Washington, Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared that their troops had reached Baghdad`s outskirts. It was unclear why the power was cut-off. Myers said the US military did not target the city`s power grid. Most of Baghdad` s power comes from the al-Doura power station south of the capital. After the outage, the city was quiet except for the sound of generators.
Amid the explosions, Iraq television aired footage of a relaxed and smiling Saddam Hussein meeting with more than a dozen senior government and Ba`ath Party officials, including Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.
The TV announcer quoted Saddam as saying: "Victory is sure, and is in our hands, after we depend on God. We see it (victory) in our consciences and hearts." Saddam, dressed in military garb, urged Iraqis to "fight and be steadfast and be up to the level of the challenge and danger until we defeat the enemy and achieve victory," the announcer said.
Earlier, Saddam exhorted Iraqis to "fight them with your hands," according to a statement read yesterday by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf.
Al-Sahhaf, meanwhile, disputed coalition claims of battle successes yesterday. "All this is to cover their disappointment and inability."
The information minister said Republican Guard forces battled coalition troops in the area al Kut and "taught them lessons, a catastrophe," inflicting heavy casualties and forcing a coalition retreat. "We buried a lot of them today," he said.
"We`re now trying to exhaust them, making them more tired until our leadership decides the time and method to clean our territory of their desecration," al-Sahhaf said.
Foreign journalists were taken to the international Baghdad trade fair grounds yesterday, a day after airstrikes hit the upscale al-Mansour district. The center hosts an annual trade show, one of the Arab world’s largest.
The headquarters of Iraqi intelligence, which have already been hit more than once by coalition aircraft, are located behind the complex. Security was tight in the area, with some dozen heavily armed security men guarding the site.
Bureau Report