Posted on 03/30/2003 11:10:16 PM PST by kattracks
US Marines try to weed out resistance in Nassiriya
NASSIRIYA, Iraq, March 31 (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S. Marines began scouring the outskirts of the city of Nassiriya block by block on Monday to weed out pockets of Iraqi resistance in what military sources said was a change of tactic.
Reuters correspondent Adrian Croft said new units brought in to reinforce the Marines left their camp before dawn on a first foot patrol through the southern outskirts of the strategically important city, 375 km (235 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
They cautiously made their way through a complex of low, white buildings and dusty open spaces that appeared to form a military training camp. They met no resistance and the camp appeared to be abandoned, although artillery fire had been heard from deeper inside the city during the night.
Many of the buildings contained Iraqi weapons, including artillery rounds, rocket propelled grenades and launchers, mortar bombs and Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles.
Gas masks were littered around the buildings as well as a number of plastic injectors which Marines said contained atropine, a nerve gas antidote issued to soldiers.
"We are going in to go block by block and we are going to weed out all enemy personnel," said Captain Rick Crevier, commander of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st U.S. Marines.
"We want to free up lines of communication so that we can have humanitarian assistance go into Nassiriya unimpeded."
Nassiriya, which is on the Euphrates River, is a key city because two main highways in the area are vital for getting supplies to invading troops further north on the way to Baghdad and for bringing in humanitarian supplies for Iraqi civilians.
Marines fought their way across the city's bridges last Tuesday but had not been able to take control of Nassiriya -- population about 560,000 -- from mainly paramilitary fighters.
Crevier dismissed suggestions that going in to weed out resistance block by block was a change of strategy, but military sources said it was clearly a change of tactic that would inevitably involve a risk of taking casualties.
03/31/03 02:05 ET
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.