Forces move into northern Iraq
By Tim Ripley, at US Central Command, in Qatar
Published: April 9 2003 17:14 | Last Updated: April 9 2003 17:14
As US tank columns headed into the heart of Baghdad on Wednesday, American commanders were turning their attention to finishing off the Iraqi regime in its 'tribal heartland' of Tikrit.
An advanced brigade of the US Army's 4th Infantry Division is already motoring north out of Kuwait and "within days" will be moving past Baghdad ready to launch what could be the last battle of the war.
Helicopters and C130 Hercules have also been ferrying the division's troops, supplies and equipment into forward airstrips deep inside Iraq to bolster the drive north. More troops from the division will be close on their heels, giving America's Middle East commander, Tommy Franks, the troops needed to punch past Tikrit to occupy Mosul and Kirkuk in the sensitive Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
US officers say that the Iraqi Republican Guard's Adnan Division retreated to Tikrit with a number of senior figures in the regime, suggesting that a bloody battle could be expected. However, once Tikrit is overrun they expect a less resistance in Kirkuk and Mosul, where some 100,000 regular army troops are understood to be keen to surrender to US soldiers rather than Kurdish peshmerga fighters.
The Adnan division is now the main focus of US airpower, with almost around the clock air strikes being launched against the last large formation of the once feared Republic Guard now in the field.
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http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313606659Retreated to Tirkit? More like moved to be slaughtered later.
Somehow I doubt the Adnan Division is much more than the brigade that the Pentagon called them earlier today.