Baghdad under New Bombardment, Coalition Forces Advance

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 23, 2003

Baghdad under New Bombardment, Coalition Forces Advance

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The Iraqi capital of Baghdad was under a new round of heavy bombardment unleashedy by US warplanes and cruise missiles from late Saturday through early Sunday while US and British ground forces advanced northward toward central Iraq.

Huge explosions were heard in the Iraqi capital overnight and anti-aircraft fire was seen in the west of the city, a Xinhua correspondent said. The roaring of fighter planes was also heard over the night sky.

Most parts of Baghdad were blacked out during the heavy bombardment.

It was the first time that large parts of the capital were plunged into darkness after several rounds of intensified air strikes.

Several important buildings, including one of the presidential palaces in the capital, were destroyed during the strikes.

Air raids have become routine in Baghdad at predawn and the beginning of every evening since the "Iraqi Freedom" operation started early Thursday.

US and British forces apparently have complete dominance in the skies over the Iraqi capital, which has been devastated by repeated ferocious bombardments that triggered giant fireballs, thunderous explosions and heavy black smoke.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said earlier Saturday at least 250 civilians have been victimized in the bombings, although US and British officials said such raids were only aimed at government targets with precision-guided missiles.

On the ground, US and British troops continued their advancement across Euphrates River, the major waterway en route to the Iraq capital, the toward central Iraq, but encountered sporadic resistance that was more fierce than they did in the pastdays.

In his first news briefing Saturday in Doha, Qatar, US Army General Tommy Franks, who is commander of the invasion, said his forces were using munitions on a "scale never before seen" and confidently predicted that victory was certain.

Iraqi troops clashed with US-led troops near the town of Najaf,160 kms south of Baghdad, Iraqi television reported Sunday.

The leader of President Saddam Hussein's Baath party in Najaf has been killed in the clashes, the report added. The name of the party leader was not released.

Ground fighting has been reported in Najaf, the closest point to the Iraqi capital.

In Washington, the Pentagon said that the US and British troops have so far made their way 240 kms into Iraq, halfway to Baghdad.

"The oil fields in the south are being saved to benefit the Iraqi people. Coalition forces have the key port of Umm Qasr and are making good progress in Basra," Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told reporters at a news conference.

"It is only a matter of time before the Iraqi regime is destroyed and its threat to region and the world is ended," she said, "The Iraqi forces, including some leadership, are surrendering and defecting in some numbers."

US warplanes flew more than 1,000 sorties against several hundred targets across Iraq in the past 24 hours and more than 400Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from US and British ships and submarines, said Major Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the US JointChiefs of Staff.

"The goal of the air campaign is to neutralize Iraqi leadership,suppress missile threats to our forces and Iraq's neighbors," he said at the news conference. Enditem

US President George W. Bush said on Saturday that the ongoing war in Iraq could be longer and more difficult than what was expected as the coalition forces met "unexpected resistance" on their way towards Baghdad.

In a televised radio address to the whole nation, Bush said that the only way to "liberate" the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein's regime is to use "decisive force."

In Turkey, Turkish military sources denied Saturday that Turkish troops had entered northern Iraq earlier in the morning.

The sources described as a "lie" the report that some 1,500 Turkish troops had entered northern Iraq through the provinces of Hakkari and Cukurca in southeastern Turkey at 00:30 local time Saturday.

Early Sunday, at least 10 US soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack on US 101st Airborne Division in northern Kuwait.

Camp Pennsylvania, a command tent of the division near the Iraqi border, was attacked by two grenades in an apparent "terrorist" attack. Small arms fire also reported during the attack.

The 101st Airborne Division is one of the major US forces engaging in the on-going ground battle in southern Iraq, along with the British forces.

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