Posted on 04/06/2003 3:58:56 AM PDT by Prince Charles
06 Apr 2003 10:11:36 GMT
U.S. troops in Kerbala centre after fierce fight
By Kieran Murray
KERBALA, Iraq, April 6 (Reuters) - Moving block by block, U.S. troops pushed into the centre of the holy Shi'ite Muslim city of Kerbala on Sunday after vicious battles with Iraqi paramilitaries threatening U.S supply lines north to Baghdad.
In blistering heat, U.S. Army tanks rumbled through the dusty streets and armed reconnaissance helicopters passed low over rooftops, identifying sniper positions for artillery units to target.
On the ground, army troops took cover in doorways and against walls as they moved past Iraqi corpses, some blown to bits by artillery fire, across the city centre.
Dozens of Iraqis and one U.S. soldier were killed in intense fighting on Saturday and overnight, but resistance was weaker on Sunday and U.S. forces appeared to have wrestled control from Fedayeen paramilitaries loyal to President Saddam Hussein.
By early afternoon the city was relatively quiet.
"I think they took a look at what happened yesterday and decided to back off," said Captain James McGahey of the Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne Division which led the U.S. thrust to the city centre.
There was still some resistance throughout Sunday morning. Heavy gunfire erupted when suspected paramilitaries popped up on rooftops or out from doorways of narrow garbage-filled streets.
"I don't think they stand a chance, to be honest, because we just have overwhelming firepower. But they've certainly got balls, you have to say that," said Army Staff Sergeant Todd Morton, who shot dead an Iraqi guerrilla as he tried to jump into a defensive bunker.
Sweat poured off the U.S. troops as they sprinted across intersections and ducked behind walls under a baking sun.
"We're not used to this type of environment. The heat out here, it's just ungodly," said Staff Sergeant Travis May.
SECURING SUPPLY LINES
The American thrust into Kerbala came as advance U.S. forces tightened their grip around Baghdad, 110 km (70 miles) to the north, on the 18th day of a war to overthrow Saddam.
It followed a similar U.S. sweep through Najaf, another holy Shi'ite Muslim city in central Iraq, to root out paramilitaries and other fighters loyal to Saddam who could threaten long U.S. supply lines stretching up from the south.
On Saturday night U.S. forces pounded Iraqi positions with artillery fire. Iraqis fired back with rocket-propelled grenades, mortar and AK-47 rifles.
"They certainly are persistent. These guys will take our fire, wait for us and when we're underneath their positions they'll fire straight at our turrets," said U.S. Sergeant Jeremiah Sample from the 1st Armoured Division.
Sample was lightly wounded by shrapnel on Saturday as he stuck his hand out of a Bradley fighting vehicle to pull in a wounded soldier.
In the city centre families cowered in mud and brick homes. Hundreds of people gathered on street corners and in doorways, wordlessly watching the slow American advance.
Some children were out playing in the street, running by dead bodies and pools of blood where fighters had been killed and their bodies dragged away during the night.
Najaf and Kerbala, home to the holiest Shi'ite shrines in Iraq, rose up against Baghdad in 1991 after Iraqi troops were repulsed from Kuwait by U.S.-led forces. Forces loyal to Saddam put down the uprising within weeks.
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