US Troops Kill 150 to 500 Iraqi Soldiers in Heavy Battle

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 26, 2003

US Troops Kill 150 to 500 Iraqi Soldiers in Heavy Battle

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US troops advancing toward Baghdad fought off an attack Tuesday by Iraqi soldiers near Najaf, a town 160 km south of the Iraqi capital, killing 150 to 500 Iraqi soldiers, and there has been no report of casualties on the US side, a Pentagon official said.

Iraqi soldiers mounted the attack on US 7th Calvary as blinding sandstorms slowed down the march of the US troops toward Baghdad.

"They did damage a couple of pieces of our gear but we've had no reports of casualties on our side. But apparently there are some reports that we may have killed quite a few of them," local media quoted an unidentified Pentagon official as saying.

If confirmed, this was the biggest ground battle between US and Iraqi troops since US launched the ground war in Iraq five days ago.

At a press briefing in Pentagon on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he was not sure how long the war would take. "We're still, needless to say, much closer to the beginning than to the end," he said.

But he stressed that the resistance faced by US troops was expected and had little impact on the overall progress on the battlefields.

"Coalition forces are closing in on Baghdad and will not stop until that regime has been driven from power. Their defeat is certain. All that is unclear is the number of days or weeks it will take," said Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld also told reporters that the US-led coalition forces have so far captured 3,500 Iraqi prisoners of war and disbanded several thousands more.

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