BAGHDAD, 1 April 2003 — US and British war planes pounded this city yesterday, striking President Saddam Hussein’s palace compound after US forces engaged in their first significant clashes with the elite Republican Guards.
The intense waves of airstrikes in the capital came as Iraq again warned that thousands of Arab volunteers were ready to carry out suicide attacks against US/UK forces.
In the south, British forces attacked the outskirts of the port city of Basra, seen as crucial to the coalition’s efforts to control southeast Iraq, but said they were waiting for reinforcements before making a final push.
Coalition war planes battered Baghdad and its southern outskirts for the 12th straight day, with two missiles crashing into Saddam’s sprawling Republican Palace compound, the first such strike in broad daylight.
Hospital sources said coalition bombing of a residential neighborhood in the capital left six Iraqi civilians dead and dozens more wounded.
Residents of a village on the southeast edge of the city said yesterday that 20 people, including 11 children, were killed and 10 other hurt at the weekend during a nighttime missile attack on a farm.
South of the capital, US troops massing for a decisive push toward Saddam’s seat of power reported their first serious fighting near Karbala, 80 km from Baghdad.
US officers said 200 Iraqis were killed, wounded or captured in the clashes which broke out overnight against the Republican Guards. Col. Will Grimsley, of the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said there had been sporadic encounters earlier with elements of the Guards in the area, but noted: “This is the first serious contact”.
Few details were available about the fighting, but correspondents traveling with the troops said they heard artillery and rocket fire in the area.
Reports of the battle around Karbala came as US armored units finalized plans for a decisive thrust toward this city within a week, commanders said, with forces concentrated near Najaf, 150 kilometers (95 miles) to the south.
The US Army’s elite 101st Airborne Division clashed with Iraqi forces near Najaf, with Apache and Kiowa Warrior helicopters backing ground troops and striking military targets in and around the city.
Elsewhere, British forces attacked the outskirts of the key southern port of Basra but said they were waiting for reinforcements before launching a decisive offensive in the city, where Iraqi fighters have put up stiff resistance.
Commanders said 600 soldiers backed by tanks and armored vehicles were battling to punch through the town of Abu Al Khasib, 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the southeast of Basra, as British artillery pounded Basra’s western edge.
Workers for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that water supplies in Basra, home to 1.2 million people, were dangerously low.
Further north, US Marines opened new supply routes for thousands of troops dug in south of Al Kut, about 150 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, amid dogged resistance from Iraqi fighters defending the approach to the capital. Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Saeed Al-Sahaf said yesterday his country’s forces had killed 43 US and British soldiers in 36 hours.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told Asharq Al-Awsat that some Arab countries wanted the war and provided support for its preparation. But he did not mention the names of the Arab countries. He said there was only a meager chance to stop the war.
