Sparrowhawk
04-07-03, 05:32 AM
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Reports say that up to 5 tank Marines killed by artillery shell, other news sources are now saying only two were killed and still others are saying, they also survived but were wounded.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1854701.jpg
A missile hits an Iraqi army position near one of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palaces in Baghdad on Monday
It was firece fighting, as the Marines made their way
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. Marines entered Baghdad on foot Monday after incurring heavy fire on the city's outskirts. As the U.S. troops moved toward the city center, Iraqi civilians hid inside their homes.
The Marines from the 3rd Battalion 4th Marine crossed into Baghdad about half an hour after they had come under Iraqi fire at a bridge spanning a canal at the southern edge of the city.
Four or five Marines died after an artillery shell hit their armored troop carrier, according to Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy.
The Iraqis had tried to make the bridge impassable by blowing out a span, digging out the embankment under the bridge and rigging it with explosives. Marines had taken control of the bridge Sunday but were unable to cross over until they had rendered it safe for light vehicles.
After the armored vehicle was shelled at the bridge, which crosses the canal on Highway Six into Baghdad, Marines grabbed metal debris Monday and threw it across the bridge to plug the hole. They then ran across, leaving their vehicles behind.
One Iraqi fighter in civilian clothes was sprawled on the bridge.
Two companies of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines then spread about a third of a mile apart, trying to secure the area so repairs or a pontoon bridge could be built and their vehicles could be driven across.
Burned vehicles and bodies were strewn across the road in the deserted area in southeastern Baghdad. Fires burned throughout the neighborhood of sand-colored houses and date palm groves.
From NBCNews
BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 7 — U.S. troops stormed into the heart of Baghdad on Monday, seizing Saddam Hussein’s New Presidential Palace on the Tigris River in “a dramatic show of force” to demonstrate that U.S. forces could enter the capital any time, anywhere. U.S. tanks also surrounded the Information Ministry and landmark Al-Rashid Hotel.
MORE THAN 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles took part in the raid under cover of tank-killing A10 Warthog planes and pilotless drones.
Tanks of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division barreled into the capital on the western side of the Tigris at 6 a.m. As they approached Baghdad along Highway 8, they met moderate resistance — mostly assault fire and rocket-propelled grenades from infantry.
'THIS CITY IS FREAKIN’ OURS’
“I do believe this city is freakin’ ours,” boasted Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville Ga.
However, Iraq’s information minister declared, “I reassure you Baghdad is safe.”
“They are beginning to commit suicide at the walls of Baghdad,” Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf told reporters in a hastily called news conference outside the Palestine Hotel. “There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad, none at all.”
The U.S. Army columns moved northeast to the newest and main presidential palace on the river, which divides the capital. The palace apparently was mainly residential rather than used for administrative purposes.
Iraqis, some nearly naked, fled along its banks. Some jumped into the water. An ammunition depot across the river was on fire.
Before the Americans seized the complex, Iraqis shot small arms fire at them from a clock tower overlooking the compound. Tanks quickly destroyed it.
Attack Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry entered the palace compound. Inside the bombed-out palace, troops rifled through documents and inventoried the building. Some rooms had spectacular river views. A thick layer of dust covered gilded, imitation French baroque furniture.
The main palace building — sand-colored brick ornamented with blue tile — was flooded in the basement and first floor. The rest of the building appeared to be destroyed, hit by cruise missiles or laser-guided bombs.
Palace curtains were strewn over the ground, blown from their windows by the explosions. Most of the compound was severely damaged from prior U.S. raids.
By noon, explosions and small-arms and machine gun fire continued from the southern section of the Old Palace compound, three miles from the New Palace. The intensity suggested a fierce battle between U.S. troops and Iraqi defenders.
Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central Command spokesman, characterized the Baghdad movement as another raid through the city and not a seizure of any territory or targets.
When asked if U.S. troops would remain inside Baghdad, Thorp said he would not discuss future plans.
“What you’re seeing here is similar to what we saw on Saturday, with an armored raid through the city,” he said.
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Reports say that up to 5 tank Marines killed by artillery shell, other news sources are now saying only two were killed and still others are saying, they also survived but were wounded.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1854701.jpg
A missile hits an Iraqi army position near one of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palaces in Baghdad on Monday
It was firece fighting, as the Marines made their way
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. Marines entered Baghdad on foot Monday after incurring heavy fire on the city's outskirts. As the U.S. troops moved toward the city center, Iraqi civilians hid inside their homes.
The Marines from the 3rd Battalion 4th Marine crossed into Baghdad about half an hour after they had come under Iraqi fire at a bridge spanning a canal at the southern edge of the city.
Four or five Marines died after an artillery shell hit their armored troop carrier, according to Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy.
The Iraqis had tried to make the bridge impassable by blowing out a span, digging out the embankment under the bridge and rigging it with explosives. Marines had taken control of the bridge Sunday but were unable to cross over until they had rendered it safe for light vehicles.
After the armored vehicle was shelled at the bridge, which crosses the canal on Highway Six into Baghdad, Marines grabbed metal debris Monday and threw it across the bridge to plug the hole. They then ran across, leaving their vehicles behind.
One Iraqi fighter in civilian clothes was sprawled on the bridge.
Two companies of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines then spread about a third of a mile apart, trying to secure the area so repairs or a pontoon bridge could be built and their vehicles could be driven across.
Burned vehicles and bodies were strewn across the road in the deserted area in southeastern Baghdad. Fires burned throughout the neighborhood of sand-colored houses and date palm groves.
From NBCNews
BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 7 — U.S. troops stormed into the heart of Baghdad on Monday, seizing Saddam Hussein’s New Presidential Palace on the Tigris River in “a dramatic show of force” to demonstrate that U.S. forces could enter the capital any time, anywhere. U.S. tanks also surrounded the Information Ministry and landmark Al-Rashid Hotel.
MORE THAN 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles took part in the raid under cover of tank-killing A10 Warthog planes and pilotless drones.
Tanks of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division barreled into the capital on the western side of the Tigris at 6 a.m. As they approached Baghdad along Highway 8, they met moderate resistance — mostly assault fire and rocket-propelled grenades from infantry.
'THIS CITY IS FREAKIN’ OURS’
“I do believe this city is freakin’ ours,” boasted Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville Ga.
However, Iraq’s information minister declared, “I reassure you Baghdad is safe.”
“They are beginning to commit suicide at the walls of Baghdad,” Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf told reporters in a hastily called news conference outside the Palestine Hotel. “There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad, none at all.”
The U.S. Army columns moved northeast to the newest and main presidential palace on the river, which divides the capital. The palace apparently was mainly residential rather than used for administrative purposes.
Iraqis, some nearly naked, fled along its banks. Some jumped into the water. An ammunition depot across the river was on fire.
Before the Americans seized the complex, Iraqis shot small arms fire at them from a clock tower overlooking the compound. Tanks quickly destroyed it.
Attack Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry entered the palace compound. Inside the bombed-out palace, troops rifled through documents and inventoried the building. Some rooms had spectacular river views. A thick layer of dust covered gilded, imitation French baroque furniture.
The main palace building — sand-colored brick ornamented with blue tile — was flooded in the basement and first floor. The rest of the building appeared to be destroyed, hit by cruise missiles or laser-guided bombs.
Palace curtains were strewn over the ground, blown from their windows by the explosions. Most of the compound was severely damaged from prior U.S. raids.
By noon, explosions and small-arms and machine gun fire continued from the southern section of the Old Palace compound, three miles from the New Palace. The intensity suggested a fierce battle between U.S. troops and Iraqi defenders.
Capt. Frank Thorp, a Central Command spokesman, characterized the Baghdad movement as another raid through the city and not a seizure of any territory or targets.
When asked if U.S. troops would remain inside Baghdad, Thorp said he would not discuss future plans.
“What you’re seeing here is similar to what we saw on Saturday, with an armored raid through the city,” he said.
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