IRAQ-CONFLICT: Fierce battles in Karbala

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Att.Editors: The following item is from the Qatar News Agency (QNA)

KARBALA, Apr 2 2003 (IPS) - The US troops engaged in fierce battles with the Republican Guards early Wednesday in Karbala, officials at the Pentagon said.

The US officials also said US Marines began inspection of houses in Al Nassiriya and attacked the Iraqi militia while in another development an F-14 US jet fighter went down in south Iraq but its two pilots were rescued.

Meanwhile US chief of staff General Richard Myers said air and ground by US-led forces has left two of Iraq’s elite Republican Guard divisions guarding Baghdad below 50 percent of their initial combat capability.

Pentagon official claimed US forces have encircled the Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, securing all major exit routes in the face of only light Iraqi resistance, and are now advancing further north.