US Says Its Troops Operating in Center of Baghdad

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, April 05, 2003

US Says Its Troops Operating in Center of Baghdad

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US armour penetrated the "heart of Baghdad" early Saturday encountering occasionally stiff resistance from Iraqi forces using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and horizontally fired anti-aircraft weapons, CNN reported.

"Right now elements of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division -- that is a tank unit -- are rolling in the heart of Baghdad itself. They are deep within the city limits," the US-based network's correspondent on the city's outskirts, Walter Rodgers, said in a live dispatch.

"They are encountering resistance ... stiff resistance at times," he said, citing US military sources. The Iraqi defenders were using 20 mm anti-aircraft guns in "direct fire mode" to pound US forces with shrapnel, as well as RPGs and small-arms fire, he added.

The resistance "may have slowed progress but there is continuing progress" into the capital, he said, adding that it must have been "quite a jolt" for Baghdad residents as they woke up to see coalition forces on their doorsteps.

The incursion into Baghdad followed the announcement by US commanders that they had seized control of the capital's international airport, just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city centre.

US troops capture headquarters of Republican Guard division

US Army soldiers Saturday captured the headquarters of the Republican Guard's Medina Division in this town about 50 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

Two tank companies and an infantry company of the 3rd Infantry Division rolled through the headquarters unopposed and quickly took over the entire base. It appeared that the Republican Guard defenses had completely collapsed.

Outside the base on a five-kilometer (three-mile) stretch of road were hundreds of bunkers and foxholes and dozens of artillery pieces, antiaircraft guns, tanks, and armored personnel carriers.

All of them had been abandoned by Iraqi troops. No troops could be seen.

The US tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles used their main guns to destroy the military vehicles along the route.

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