Posted on 03/28/2003 9:31:06 PM PST by gaucho
Nasiriya, (Special to Iraq Press), March 28, 2003 ? U.S. missile and aerial bombing have taken a heavy toll on the paramilitary troops in major cities in southern Iraq.
Iraq Press correspondents say the bombing has reduced several buildings housing members of the militia force known as Saddam Fedayeen to rubble.
They also said the ruling Baath party offices and headquarters in Basra, Nasiriya, Najaf and even Baghdad have been targets of U.S. bombs and missiles.
"Saddam's grip is loosening in major cities in southern Iraq and his loyalists are in acute distress," one correspondent said.
The nearly 25,000 fedayeen force is one of the most dreaded militias in Iraq. Saddam's elder son, Uday, runs it.
IP correspondents said the authorities were also losing their iron grip on power in the northern city of Mosul, Iraq's third largest after Baghdad and Basra.
The regime's paramilitary forces, which have so far formed the backbone of the resistance to the allied troops advancing on Baghdad, have evacuated their special headquarters and have dispersed among local population.
International media reports from Basra say the militia there, mainly consisting of the fedayeen, is firing at citizens fleeing the city.
The constant shifting of bases and positions has led to difficulties in maintaining contact with the centre, the correspondents said.
The regime is now concentrating mainly on Baghdad, as it believes that the allies will eventually overcome the remaining pockets of resistance in the huge swathes of land they have occupied in southern Iraq.
In Baghdad, a city of nearly five million people and the world's largest in terms of area, the regime's paramilitary forces have set up checkpoints at all roads leading to the capital.
A huge force of the fedayeen and ruling Baath party fighters is present in Baghdad, currently ringed by armoured divisions of the elite Republican Guard force.
Patrols roam the streets of Baghdad and the checkpoints have the names of all those leaving or entering the city in special registers.
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