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US launches armored thrust into Baghdad

Snapshot of the war * Bombs, artillery thunder across Baghdad as US forces tighten grip on capital's outskirts * US forces seize two major highways leading out of Baghdad, US military sources say * Brother of Kurdish leader Barzani in critical state after US "friendly fire" attack, Kurdish source says * US military says not responsible for attacking Russian diplomatic convoy carrying ambassador out of the country * Saddam, in message read on Iraqi TV, tells Iraqis who cannot join their own fighting units to link up with other units * British tanks shoot their way into center of Basra Source: Reuters

Between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqi fighters were killed in a show-of-force foray into Baghdad by American armored vehicles, the US Central Command said yesterday.

The command also said it was investigating a report of a friendly fire incident in northern Iraq. According to a BBC correspondent and Kurdish officials, up to a dozen people died when a US warplane bombed a convoy carrying Kurdish fighters and US special forces.

In southern Iraq, British forces made their deepest push yet into Basra, with a column of 40 armored personnel carriers rolling into the country's second-biggest city after a series of strikes on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's loyalist defenders.

Though Saturday's 40km incursion through an industrial section of southern Baghdad was brief, it inflicted a heavy toll, according to command spokesman Jim Wilkinson. More than three-dozen tanks and armored vehicles were involved; US casualties were described as light.

The blitz took two task forces of the 3rd Infantry Division from the southern outskirts of the city past Baghdad University and near the banks of the Tigris River, then back to the western outskirts of the city to the airport, which is under US control.

While some Iraqi civilians welcomed the troops, others put up a fight, including a mixture of Republican Guard and irregular forces, Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson did not specify how US forces came up with their estimate of Iraqi deaths; previously, enemy tolls have not been issued. He indicated that forays into Baghdad would continue.

"It's important to do so to secure the area; it's also important that we do that for psychological reasons," he said. "Frankly we've had to prove to the civilians in the north and the south that we're there to stay. Once they know we're there to stay, they celebrate."

US pressure in and around Baghdad intensified in other ways yesterday, including an attempt by Marines to take a bridge over a canal leading into the city. Iraqi fighters had rigged the bridge with explosives and dug out the embankment under the bridge to weaken it; Marines said they control the bridge but cannot cross it.

Another Marine battalion overran a Republican Guard headquarters and seized one of Saddam's palaces south of the city. Overhead, US warplanes were flying around the clock, coordinating precision strikes in support of upcoming ground attacks.

In northern Iraq, BBC correspondent John Simpson reported that he was in a convoy of Kurdish and American fighters when it was bombed by a US plane, killing 10 to 12 people. Simpson said he and his translator were injured.

According to Turkish television reports, three US soldiers and 12 Kurdish fighters were killed, and more than 40 people were injured in the bombing. Some of the casualties reportedly were taken to a hospital in the Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil, including the younger brother of prominent Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.

In Moscow, the Kremlin said a convoy of Russian Embassy diplomats came under fire yesterday, and some were wounded, as they were evacuating from Baghdad and starting to drive toward Syria.

In Basra, British forces have set up checkpoints in the city for the first time. Until now, they had stayed on the outskirts, hoping that the predominantly Shiite Muslim populace of Basra would turn against the pro-Saddam militiamen defending Iraq's second-biggest city.

"We are aggressively patrolling, we're moving into the city now," said Group Captain Al Lockwood, spokesman for British forces.

On Saturday, coalition aircraft struck the Basra home of Ali Hassan al-Majid, the Iraqi general known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering a poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds in 1988. Allied officials said the general -- Saddam's cousin -- was believed to be home at the time, but it was not known whether he was killed or wounded.

On yesterday, coalition forces positively identified the body of the general's bodyguard, Wilkinson said. "They're still sifting through the rubble down there to see if Chemical Ali was dead," he said.

Explosions jolted Baghdad early yesterday after a relatively quiet night in which the usual barrages of anti-aircraft fire were not heard.

Capitalizing on their dominance of the skies, US commanders began deploying planes over Baghdad 24 hours a day, ready to direct strike aircraft to ground targets.

Iraqi authorities took Baghdad-based journalists to the city's southern outskirts yesterday to show them a US tank destroyed in the recent fighting. A commander said four more tanks also were destroyed but had been towed away to clear the road.

Along the Tigris River, 32km southeast of Baghdad, Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines overran the headquarters of the Republican Guard's Second Corps, seized one of Saddam's numerous palaces and destroyed what US intelligence reports depicted as a terrorist training camp.

The nighttime attack was mounted in the town of Salman Pak, which military officials said contained a suspected weapons of mass destruction site dating back to 1991.
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