First US Airplane Lands at Baghdad Airport

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 07, 2003

First US Airplane Lands at Baghdad Airport

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An official from the US 3rd Infantry Division's aviation brigade says a C-130 military transport aircraft landed at Baghdad airport, 20 kilometres southwest of the city centre, on Sunday night. The aircraft is the coalition's first to arrive at the airport.

Meanwhile, US Central Command says some 2,000 Iraqi fighters have been killed as the 3rd Infantry Division moved through southwest Baghdad.

The US military says the raid is the first incursion into the Iraqi capital, and is designed to send a message to both the Iraqi leadership and civilians that coalition forces can move into the city at will.

During a press conference at US Central Command in Qatar, US Air Force Major General Gene Renuart said two task forces from the Army's Third Infantry Division swept in and out of Baghdad to make "a clear statement of the ability of the coalition forces to move into Baghdad at times and places of their choosing."

But some correspondents reporting from the centre of Baghdad say they have not seen any US troops yet.

The military admits US forces have met Iraqi resistance from a mixture of Republican Guard and irregular forces. It says some 7,000 US troops have moved into the Saddam International Airport and they will establish a small military base there.

But Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahaf has denied that US troops have entered the capital. He also claimed that Iraqi troops killed 50 more US soldiers and destroyed 16 tanks and two Apache helicopters close to the airport in overnight fighting.

"Saddam Airport was a graveyard for them (US-led troops). A few hundred of their bodies are there at the airport. A lot of their vehicles and tanks have been destroyed. Units from the Special Republican Guard participated in the fighting. The airport is under full (Iraqi) control and they were pushed outside and they are now in the suburbs of Abu Ghurayb."

The Iraqi state television says all Baghdad's exits have been blocked. A travel ban has also been imposed on the exits from 6:00pm to 6:00am starting on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Baghdad has come under new rounds of intensive air raids. Deafening explosions rocked central and western parts of the city, while Iraqi air defence troops fired at coalition warplanes.

Elsewhere, fierce fighting between the coalition and Iraqi troops are continuing in northern and southern parts of Iraq.

Sources say 4 US and 12 Kurdish soldiers were killed in northern Iraq in a "friendly fire" incident when their convoy was attacked by a US warplane. 45 others were injured in the attack. A senior Kurdish political figure is believed to be among the wounded.

Reports say British tanks have rolled into Iraq's second largest city of Basra. British soldiers are reportedly setting up checkpoints in the city.

The Pentagon has listed 80 dead and 15 missing or captured since the war began. Britain says it has suffered 27 dead.

Iraq has not given figures for military deaths, but says more than 1,200 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict.

On Sunday, US Central Command says so far, the coalition forces have not found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Moreover, the Iraqi state TV has reported a statement from President Saddam Hussein calling on scattered soldiers to join local troops and continue the battle against the US and British forces.

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