Allied soldiers capture, kill paramilitary and Republican Guard on march to Baghdad

AP | 3/31/03 | CHRIS TOMLINSON and ELLEN KNICKMEYER

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IN SOUTH CENTRAL IRAQ, Mar 31, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Allied soldiers inched toward Baghdad on Monday, capturing or killing paramilitary fighters and Republican Guard while new waves of U.S. bombs set off blazes in the Iraqi capital.

U.S. troops killed about 100 paramilitary fighters in and around the Shiite holy city of Najaf and seized several dozen Republican Guard in Hindiyah, south of Baghdad.

The dawn assault on Hindiyah clinched control of the closest known point in the U.S.-led advance on Baghdad, where a battle with the Republican Guard, the best-trained Iraqi troops, looms.

At least 15 Iraqi troops were reported killed in the town on the Euphrates.Troops had also cleared the towns of Afak, Hajil and Budayr in the region.

U.S. warplanes, including a massive fleet of long-range bombers, pounded Baghdad and Tomahawk missiles ignited a fire that raged before dawn at the Iraqi Information Ministry. The blaze was put out after about 30 minutes.

The attacks were carried out simultaneously by multiple B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers, the U.S. Central Command said. The command said it was the first time in history that all three long-range strike aircraft targeted the same geographical area at the same time.

On the 12th day of the war to oust Saddam Hussein, questions have arisen about the pace and impact of the U.S.-led campaign. Despite claims of success, coalition forces appear to be bogged down in the south where an anticipated uprising by the Shiites to welcome U.S. forces has not occurred. Closer to Baghdad, Saddam's defense appears more resilient than U.S. war planners had anticipated.

U.S. war leaders defended their strategy Sunday.

"We have the power to be patient in this, and we're not going to do anything before we're ready," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

U.S. and British allies reported increased contacts with ordinary Iraqis on many fronts Sunday, a development measured - like the march toward Baghdad - in wary steps.

The reason for the caution was clear: persistent danger from plainclothes combatants and warnings from Iraqi officials that there will be more suicide attacks like the one that killed four Americans in Najaf on the weekend. An Iraqi official said some 4,000 Arabs have come to Iraq to help attack coalition troops.

After the suicide attack at Najaf and continuing trouble from combatants out of uniform, nervous U.S. troops are warning approaching drivers they will be shot if they do not leave the area.

In Nasiriyah, where fighting has been fierce for a week, U.S. Marines secured buildings held by an Iraqi infantry division that contained large caches of weapons and chemical decontamination equipment.

A Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed Sunday night at a forward supply and refueling point in southern Iraq, killing three people aboard.

So far about 37 American and 25 British soldiers have been killed. Seven Americans are being held prisoner, according to Iraqi officials and 14 others are reported missing. There are no estimates of Iraqi combatants killed, but officials in Baghdad say about 425 civilians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded.

Questions grew in Washington over the war's pace.

Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia said the U.S.-led invasion is clearly facing more Iraqi resistance than anticipated and the war plan will probably have to be adjusted to deal with that.

"I consider them not to be trivial setbacks," he said on CNN, but rather "in the category of major problems."

Gen. Tommy Franks, the U.S. war commander, said: "One never knows how long a war will take."

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to allay concern about the war's progress in an evening speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, expressing "total confidence in the plan and total confidence in Gen. Franks and those carrying out the plan."

Close to 100,000 U.S. service members are in Iraq, supported by about 200,000 in the theater and with 100,000 more on the way.

U.S. officials said coalition ground forces were closing in on Baghdad from the south, west and north - with the southern frontline about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital. Myers said airstrikes have reduced some units of the Republican Guard, Saddam's best-trained forces, to less than half their prewar capacity.

British troops moved into villages on the fringes of Basra, the southern city where an outnumbered but tough core of Saddam loyalists have held off the coalition for about a week.

Up to 1,000 Royal Marines and supporting troops, backed by heavy artillery and tanks, staged a commando assault in a Basra suburb, killing some 30 Iraqi fighters and destroying a bunker and several tanks. Officials said Operation James - named for James Bond - was the Marines' largest mission so far.

By CHRIS TOMLINSON and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press Writers