US Says It Hits 'Leadership Target' in Baghdad

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 08, 2003

US Says It Hits 'Leadership Target' in Baghdad

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The United States has struck a "leadership target" in Baghdad, where Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, his two sons and some top government or military leaders were believed to be holding meetings. The result is not known yet.

Earlier on Tuesday, machinegun fire and several explosions were heard at the Iraqi leader's palace compound that was occupied by US troops.

American troops and tanks rumbled through downtown Baghdad Monday, seizing one of Saddam's major palaces and toppling his 40-foot statue. US claims an estimated 600 to 1,000 Iraqi troops were killed during the operation.

U.S. military officials said on Monday that first tests on substances found in a central Iraqi town suggested the presence of banned chemical agents, but added they could turn out to be simple pesticides.

At the city's southern edge, US Marines faced tough bloody fighting. Two marines were killed and two wounded when their armoured troop carrier was hit by an artillery shell.

Two US soldiers and two journalists were also killed and another 15 others injured when an Iraqi missile hit a US tactical operations centre south of Baghdad.

Qatar-based TV channel Al-Jazeera reports that US forces fired at their journalists near Saddam International Airport Monday, but no casualties are reported.

US Central Command says US forces have encircled Baghdad with the 3rd Infantry Division on the west and the Marines on the east. They also controlled many of Baghdad's exits.

In Washington, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is about to lose control of the country as his regime is running out of real soldiers.

However, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf denies that US troops have entered Baghdad and seized key buildings in the city.

Fierce fighting between coalition and Iraqi troops is still continuing in other parts of Iraq.

In the central city of Karbala, the US Army's 101st Airborne Division says they now control the city. The fierce fighting left some 400 paramilitary fighters dead.

In Iraq's second largest city of Basra in the south, the British military says thousands of its soldiers have poured into the city and now control most parts of it. The military also says President Saddam's cousin and commander of the southern region, Ali Flassan al-Majid, has been killed by the air raids. His body, along with several of his bodyguards, has been found in the Intelligence Centre in Basra. Iraq has denied the report.

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