US-led forces closed in on Baghdad yesterday, with a new front opened in the north and reinforcements sent to the south as the war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein entered its second week.
But US troops suffered a setback when dozens of US Marines were wounded in friendly fire during an Iraqi attack near the southern town of Nasiriyah, US officers at the scene said.
Units of the Marines' First Division pushed north toward Baghdad on a major road near the city of Diwaniya, some 240km from the capital, after two days of heavy fighting with Iraqi fighters.
Another marine unit from the east broke free of Iraqi resistance between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and moved to within 230km of the capital.
The progress toward Baghdad of US-led forces, who launched an offensive last week to disarm Iraq and topple Saddam's government, became easier as blinding sandstorms that had slowed their movements for two days cleared up.
The 101st Airborne Division's fleet of 270 attack helicopters prepared for combat missions after being grounded by the swirling dust, officers said, with clear skies forecast for the next two days.
The coalition opened a new front in northern Iraq when up to 1,000 elite troops from the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade parachuted into the Kurdish-held zone late Wednesday, circumventing Turkey's refusal to allow US troops to cross its soil.
"It's the first sizeable force in northern Iraq," a US defense official said.
Early yesterday, US transport planes landed in the eastern part of the Kurdish region, witnesses said, with US troops seen being deployed near frontlines with the Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk.
Some 12,000 troops from the US Army's 4th Infantry Division, initially due to enter Iraq through Turkey, left their Texas base yesterday for the Gulf, where ships carrying their tanks and armored vehicles were diverted last week.
* US soldiers killed: at least 26
* UK soldiers killed: 22
* Iraqi fighters killed: an estimated 500 over the past two days, according to US military officials
* Iraqi prisoners of war: More than 3,500, according to US officials
* US prisoners of war: 7, according to Iraqi officials.
* US soldiers missing: 8, according to US officials
Source: AP
The fresh arrivals will back up the offensive, which has put the 3rd Infantry Division on Baghdad's doorstep but exposed its supply lines to guerrilla attacks.
As the drive to Baghdad continued, US forces suffered a disappointing blow when dozens of marines were wounded in a friendly fire incident during a nighttime Iraqi attack near Nasiriyah, a key crossing point over the Euphrates River.
Shell and mortar fire apparently hit the marine command post headquarters near Nasiriyah, leaving 37 wounded, with three in critical condition, officers told a correspondent traveling with the troops.
"It was friendly fire," said one US captain, who did not want to be named.
It was not immediately clear how many of the marines had been hurt by friendly fire and how many had been wounded by Iraqi fire.
The headquarters compound returned fire, officers said, but casualty reports from the other side were not immediately available. A US Central Command spokesman in Qatar said the incident was under investigation.
The clash near Nasiriyah, which destroyed at least six military vehicles, came as coalition war planes unleashed a fresh wave of punishing air strikes on Baghdad overnight and during the day yesterday.
Iraqi Health Minister Umid Medhat Mubarak said a total of 36 civilians had been killed in Wednesday's raids, and that 350 people -- mostly women, children and the elderly -- had been killed since the start of the war.
At least 3,600 others have been injured since US-led forces launched their campaign against Saddam a week ago, the minister told reporters.
RSS