Other Marines were sent to guard a nuclear plant yesterday. Near the airport, Army's 101st Airborne Division troops killed two Iraqis in a gunbattle at a former Republican Guard headquarters.
Members of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division hunkered down for their first night in Baghdad at the sprawling, blue-and-gold-domed New Presidential Palace, where Saddam once slept. At least a dozen Iraqis were being held in a hastily erected holding pen on the grounds.
In the north, US jets continued to hammer Iraqi positions yesterday near the Baghdad-controlled cities of Kirkuk and Khaneqin. In the south, British forces claimed control over Basra on Monday, after battling militants there for two weeks.
Central Command said yesterday that nearly 85,000 US servicemen and British troops took part in Monday's attacks in southeast Baghdad and Basra. They seized five weapons caches consisting of more than 10 tonnes of ordnance, including a number of missiles, and destroyed, damaged or captured two dozen tanks, along with many other military vehicles, a statement said.
The coalition has taken more than 3,500 prisoners of war since the conflict began, Central Command said.
Defense officials said samples of a suspicious material found in Iraq are being tested for the presence of chemical weapons. Soldiers with the Army's 101st Airborne Division found the substance in metal drums in a compound near the city of Hindiyah, about 140km south of Baghdad. It was possible the substance was a pesticide, since it was found at an agricultural site, a local commander said.
At the UN, a group of 22 Arab countries decided late Monday to push for a General Assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire in Iraq. They are certain to face US opposition.
The group will seek a "very mild" resolution, said Yemen's UN Ambassador Abdullah Alsaidi. "It will ask for a ceasefire, respect for Iraqi sovereignty, territorial integrity. It will ask for the unity of Iraq."
RSS