Posted on 04/02/2003 7:31:17 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Republican Guard Division Routed at Kut
By CHRIS TOMLINSON .c The Associated Press
NEAR KARBALA, Iraq (AP) - Advancing on Baghdad from both the southwest and the southeast, U.S. ground forces penetrated the Iraqi capital's ``red zone'' defensive cordon Wednesday, destroying one division of Saddam Hussein's battle-hardened Republican Guard as they crossed the Tigris River.
In the southwest, lead elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division pushed through a gap west of Karbala after a night-long bombardment of the Shiite holy city some 50 miles from Saddam's seat of power. Members of the 1st Marine Division were even closer, about 30 to 35 miles away from the capital.
The Marines seized the strategic southeast town of Kut and routed a Republican Guard division that was guarding the highway to Baghdad. ``The Baghdad Division no longer exists, and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is moving on,'' said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman.
At a canal near the Tigris, Marines under machine-gun fire battled with Iraqi forces in heavy fighting. Iraqi artillery shells and mortars exploded, while blasts of machine-gun fire tore apart buildings. U.S. forces estimated they had killed 100 Iraqi soldiers in their trenches and bunkers during two hours of heavy fighting.
The shooting started only after it appeared the Marines would cross the bridge uncontested - a belief shattered by mortars fired as the forces approached the bridge. The Marines eventually succeeded in making their move toward the capital.
The U.S. forces were also up against the Republican Guard's Medina and Nebuchadnezzar divisions, and they attacked towns and positions north of Karbala, where 2,000 Fedayeen loyalists and Baath Party members were believed to be hunkered down.
At least 20 Iraqis were killed and an unknown number of fighters were taken prisoner, field reports said. No U.S. casualties were reported. One tank belonging to the Nebuchadnezzar Division was reported destroyed.
``We have moved beyond where the Republican Guard is and beyond where the popularly known red line is,'' Thorp said.
Army Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, a battalion commander, said Iraqi troops concentrated their attacks on his unit, allowing the rest of the brigade to pass through the Karbala gap unscathed. The gap is a chokepoint between a lake to the west and the city of Karbala to the east that opens onto a plain.
Farther south, the highway leading out of the town of Nasiriray was choked with coalition military convoys headed north. Vehicles churned up billowing clouds of dust as they drove through a barren landscape of cracked land dotted with green clumps of grass. Blown bunkers and collapsed buildings flanked the road.
``The noose is starting to tighten around Baghdad,'' Sgt. Jeff Lanter, crew chief of a Marine CH-46E Sea Knight assault helicopter, said as he peered down at the mass movement.
Around Karbala, Iraqi defenders fired anti-aircraft guns into the sky most of the night, as U.S. artillery pounded suspected military positions in the ancient town. B-52 bombers circled Karbala throughout the night, carpet-bombing some areas while fighter jets went after small targets.
Pentagon officials have said the Republican Guard must be eliminated before ground troops move on Baghdad. For more than a week, coalition airstrikes and artillery barrages have pounded Republican Guard units to the south, west and north of the capital.
Military officials have said that the Medina and Baghdad Divisions' fighting strength has been reduced by more than half.
Meanwhile, an F-14 Tomcat fighter on a bombing mission in Iraq crashed late Tuesday because of mechanical failure and both crew members were rescued via helicopter, U.S. Central Command said. Neither was seriously injured.
That brings to 67 the number of coalition forces extracted from hostile situations by search-and-rescue teams, the military said.
The U.S. military would not give any further details of the accident.
Also, a Marine Corps VA-8B Harrier jet was lost while coming in for a landing on the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau. The jet plunged into the water. The pilot ejected and was in fair condition, military said.
Overnight, U.S. warplanes dropped 16 2,000-pound precision-guided bombs on an intelligence compound in the southern city of Basra and hit radar sites, a Republican Guard barracks and other targets in and around Baghdad, military officials said.
The intelligence compound - about 10 multistory buildings in a complex the size of a city block - was severely damaged, said Lt. Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Persian Gulf.
The attack was the busiest night of the war so far for the Kitty Hawk's bombers.
Associated Press Television News reporter Ross Simpson contributed to this report.
While at an intense pause...
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.