US forces pushed to within 20 miles of Baghdad today launching attacks on two fronts against Republican Guard units defending the approaches to the Iraqi capital. However, Iraq has denied the reports as "illusions".
Forces pushing along the Tigris valley from the southeast were as near as 25 miles away, sources said.
A US commander in the Gulf said some troops had crossed a "red line" around Baghdad which the US military claims could trigger a chemical attack by Iraqi forces.
|
|
Smoke rises from the Republican Guard palace inBaghdad during air strikes this morning Photo: Reuters
|
US forces south of Baghdad said they were wearing MOPP 2 protective clothing - the second highest state of readiness for any chemical attack.
The two-pronged offensive was the biggest advance yet in the 14-day-old war to remove President Saddam Hussein, although Iraq denied US forces had crossed the Tigris or made gains anywhere else.
"The dagger is clearly pointed at the heart of the Baghdad regime and will continue to be pointed at the heart of that regime," US Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said.
He said US troops had destroyed the Baghdad Division of the Republican Guard near the town of Kut, 105 miles southeast of Baghdad, and had fought two other Guard divisions. Troops also seized a bridge over the Tigris west of Kut.
Later Major General Stanley McChrystal, the vice director of operations of the Joint Staff, said two Republican Guard divisions were "no longer credible forces" but have been reinforced with regular Iraqi army troops.
"We've seen that the Medina and Baghdad divisions are no longer credible forces," he said.
Iraq denied the claim and dismissed as "illusions" reports that US forces had crossed the Tigris or made gains anywhere else. "This is a baseless statement as the Baghdad division is in command of the situation and it enjoys high morale to fight the enemy and destroy it," a military spokesman said. He said the division had not even suffered casualties in its engagement with US troops.
Further west, the 3rd Infantry Division reported it had encircled Karbala and headed on for the Euphrates river on the road to Baghdad.
Two powerful US columns are now closing on the capital from the south and southeast after an aerial bombardment that battered elite units guarding the city for more than a week.
|
US B-52 bombers are also reported to have dropped cluster bombs on an Iraqi tank column in central Iraq.
Intensive bombing was heard in Baghdad this afternoon and plumes of smoke rose from several parts of the Iraqi capital.
One coalition missile or "smart bomb" struck a building at the main presidential palace complex in Baghdad in the third consecutive day of raids on the compound, it was reported.
Earlier, bombs crashed into central Baghdad, killing several motorists and hitting a Red Crescent hospital, a Reuterscorrespondent reported. She said at least five cars had been crushed, with their drivers burned to death inside.
Hospital sources said at least 25 people, including medical staff and patients, had been wounded in the raids, which also smashed buildings in a trade fair, next to a government security office which was not visibly damaged.
US Navy officials said missiles launched from allied warplanes again targeted one of Saddam's palaces along the River Tigris, Iraq's Olympic headquarters and a presidential yacht. The Al-Salam presidential palace, famous for its four busts of Saddam on each corner of the main domed building, bore two gaping holes
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said air strikes had killed 24 civilians and wounded 186 in the past 24 hours, with 10 dead and 90 wounded in Baghdad alone.
"No matter how many Iraqi civilians they kill, this will make us even stronger and even more determined to repel the invasion and to defeat them," Mr Sahaf said.
The battle came a day after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made clear only an unconditional Iraqi surrender would end the war. "There will be no outcome to this war that leaves Saddam Hussein and his regime in power," Mr Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing. "Let there be no doubt, his time will end, and soon. The only thing that the coalition will discuss with this regime is their unconditional surrender."
In Baghdad, in a statement attributed to Saddam read out on state television, the Iraqi leader urged Iraqis to fight American and British troops wherever they were. "Hit them, fight them...Fight them everywhere," the statement said.
Saddam did not appear personally. Rumours have swirled since the war began that he may have been hurt in a US air attack. He has been seen several times on television but it was not known when those appearances were recorded.
Iraqi television today showed the Iraqi president smiling and laughing with his ministers.
The call for jihad followed more fighting in the south, continuing air raids on the Iraqi capital and on the northern city of Kirkuk and more civilian deaths in an air raid, deaths that have further fired Arab anger.
At a televised news conference, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said 6,000 volunteer fighters had arrived in Iraq. More than half were suicide fighters and "you'll hear about them soon."
US troops have been nervous of possible suicide bombers since a suicide attack killed four soldiers on Saturday.