Baghdad, Apr 06: Deafening explosions rocked central Baghdad early today as Iraqi troops, members of President Saddam Hussein's fedayeen militia and teenage soldiers patrolled streets to protect the capital from US-led forces. US forces penetrated the city early yesterday for the first time, but quickly moved out and headed toward the airport on Baghdad's western edge, US Central Command officials said.
Iraqi leaders denied US troops had entered the capital and claimed Saddam's forces had retaken the airport -killing hundreds of American "scoundrels," the military said.
But he said the Americans were in the suburbs, and in message on television urged residents to inform Iraqi troops about any US movements. Maintain "calm, good organization. To confront the enemy effectively, conquer it, and force it to retreat accursed and defeated," he said.
By yesterday night, city streets were crawling with all kinds of armed men- government troops, militiamen, loyalists from Saddam's Baath Party. Members of the fedayeen, a militia led by Saddam's son Odai, appeared in their distinctive black uniforms in the city center for the first time since the war began.
Armed with kalashnikovs, mortars and heavy machine guns, soldiers of the elite republican guard corps dug fresh trenches and fortified old ones. Some took over houses close to the city's southern approaches.
Government-owned Iraqi television showed footage yesterday of Saddam meeting with his sons Odai and Qusai, although it was unclear when the meeting took place. Bureau Report