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Coalition forces advance towards Baghdad
Baghdad, Mar 25: Coalition forces advanced toward the Iraqi capital yesterday night, with ground troops moving from the north, south, and west and precision-guided bombs reducing key targets into mountains of smoke and rubble.
Baghdad, Mar 25: Coalition forces advanced toward the Iraqi capital last night, with ground troops moving from the north, south, and west and precision-guided bombs reducing key targets into mountains of smoke and rubble.
Large explosions and anti-aircraft tracer fire lit the night skies over Baghdad just after midnight on Tuesday, the fifth such bombing wave in about 24 hours. Among the buildings destroyed yesterday was an Iraqi air force complex.
Coalition forces early today also shelled Nasiriya, home to key bridges across the Euphrates River in southern Iraq. The city has been the scene of the most intense fighting to date: Ten Marines were killed in combat there Sunday, 12 were injured and 16 are considered missing, a senior commander in the battle told a private TV channel.
They blew up anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled grenades and thousands of rounds of ammunition left by the enemy -- explosions that shook the earth and turned the sky black with smoke.
The fierce resistance from Iraqi troops in the south also resulted in the first British combat death of the 5-day-old war, a soldier killed in action Monday near Basra in southern Iraq. Two British soldiers are missing after an attack Sunday on their vehicles in southern Iraq.
U.S. and coalition planes also struck the northern Iraqi city of Mosul for the third night in a row early Tuesday. Large explosions and anti-aircraft fire could be seen by a CNN crew in Kalak, about 28 miles east of Mosul.
In the fifth day of ground combat operations, Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed satisfaction with the progress of the U.S.-led war.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said as coalition forces draw close to Baghdad, they will face battle with Iraq`s most elite military units positioned to barricade Baghdad.
Aerial attack continued today on Kirkuk in Northern Afghanistn.
Meanwhile, Iraqi television also showed images of what appeared to be a downed US Apache attack helicopter sitting largely undamaged in a grassy field. Information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf claimed peasants had shot down two Apaches, and two pilots were in custody.
Bureau Report
Large explosions and anti-aircraft tracer fire lit the night skies over Baghdad just after midnight on Tuesday, the fifth such bombing wave in about 24 hours. Among the buildings destroyed yesterday was an Iraqi air force complex.
Coalition forces early today also shelled Nasiriya, home to key bridges across the Euphrates River in southern Iraq. The city has been the scene of the most intense fighting to date: Ten Marines were killed in combat there Sunday, 12 were injured and 16 are considered missing, a senior commander in the battle told a private TV channel.
They blew up anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled grenades and thousands of rounds of ammunition left by the enemy -- explosions that shook the earth and turned the sky black with smoke.
The fierce resistance from Iraqi troops in the south also resulted in the first British combat death of the 5-day-old war, a soldier killed in action Monday near Basra in southern Iraq. Two British soldiers are missing after an attack Sunday on their vehicles in southern Iraq.
U.S. and coalition planes also struck the northern Iraqi city of Mosul for the third night in a row early Tuesday. Large explosions and anti-aircraft fire could be seen by a CNN crew in Kalak, about 28 miles east of Mosul.
In the fifth day of ground combat operations, Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed satisfaction with the progress of the U.S.-led war.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said as coalition forces draw close to Baghdad, they will face battle with Iraq`s most elite military units positioned to barricade Baghdad.
Aerial attack continued today on Kirkuk in Northern Afghanistn.
Meanwhile, Iraqi television also showed images of what appeared to be a downed US Apache attack helicopter sitting largely undamaged in a grassy field. Information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf claimed peasants had shot down two Apaches, and two pilots were in custody.
Bureau Report