"We're going into a hunting mode right now," said Lieutenant Colonel B.T. McCoy of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. "We're going to start hunting down instead of letting them take the cheap shots."
Hoping to cripple the Iraqi government's communications, the coalition attacked the state-run television headquarters in Baghdad before dawn yesterday with missiles and air strikes. The station's signal was knocked off the air for a few hours before it was restored; regular broadcasts started on schedule after daybreak.
Far to the south, British forces on the edge of Basra waged artillery battles with more than 1,000 Iraqi militiamen, who reportedly also faced an insurrection by civilians opposed to Saddam Hussein.
British officers said yesterday that the uprising became so threatening that the militiamen fired mortars to try to suppress it. British forces then silenced the Iraqi mortar positions with an artillery barrage, said Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie McCourt, a spokesman for British forces.
McCourt said British troops also were firing at some of the militiamen who were trying to flee Basra.
The British -- while awaiting an opportune moment to enter the heart of Basra -- have been telling residents over loudspeakers that aid is waiting outside the city. Relief officials say many of the 1.3 million residents are drinking contaminated water and face the threat of diarrhea and cholera.
British forces staged a raid on a suburb of Basra, capturing a Baath party leader and killing 20 of his bodyguards, officials said.
The Iraqis denied there was any uprising in Basra. "The situation is stable," Information Minister Mohammed al-Sahhaf told the Arab satellite television station al-Jazeera.
Assigned to bring aid to another battle-scarred southern city, a seven-truck relief convoy loaded with food and water left Kuwait and reached the port of Umm Qasr yesterday.
A handful of Iraqi children watched the convoy cross into Iraqi territory. One boy, about 10, pointed to his mouth and shouted, "Eat, eat!"
Plans to bring supplies to Iraqi civilians had been stalled for days because of fighting across southern Iraq. On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the US is legally responsible for providing relief aid.
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