Tweet
Originally posted by Eli
200 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to a Marines force.
200 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to a Marines force.
-
Yes..BBC confirmed this. But it was too the Royal Marines.
-
From Washington Post:
U.S. Thinks Hussein, Sons Were In Bunker
By Walter Pincus, Bob Woodward and Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 21, 2003; Page A01
U.S. intelligence officials believe Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, possibly accompanied by one or both of his powerful sons, was still inside a compound in southern Baghdad early yesterday when it was struck by a barrage of U.S. bombs and cruise missiles.
But intelligence analysts in Washington and operatives working in the region were not certain whether the Iraqi leader was killed or injured or escaped the attack, according to senior Bush administration officials, who worked yesterday to analyze a videotape of an appearance by Hussein broadcast on Iraqi television within hours of the pre-dawn bombardment.
A third administration official said "there is evidence that he [Hussein] was at least injured" because of indications that medical attention was urgently summoned on his behalf. The condition of Hussein's sons, and any others who may have been at the compound, was also unknown, officials said.Comment
-
My apologies Eli. You were right. The two are differnent stories. So far about 500 Iraqi's have surrendered.
Story,
Troops Advance; Some 200 Iraqis Surrender
By ROSS SIMPSON
.c The Associated Press
SOUTHERN IRAQ (AP) - U.S. troops advanced through the deserts of southern Iraq in armored convoys Friday after launching the war's ground assault, meeting resistance from Iraqi forces in some areas and soldiers surrendering in others.
As the U.S. Marines and Army drove deeper into southern Iraq, British troops moved on the strategic al-Faw peninsula - Iraq's access point to the Persian Gulf and the site of major oil facilities. British military officials said they hoped to seize the key port of Umm Qasr before the day's end.
Through the night and as the sun rose, artillery barrages targeted Iraqi positions in al-Faw, and witnesses in northern Kuwait side said they could hear thunderous explosions from the Umm Qasr area.
Further west along the border, some 200 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to the U.S. 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit just over an hour after it crossed the border into Iraq from northern Kuwait.
One group of 40 Iraqis marched in formation down a two-lane road toward the Americans and gave up. They were told to lie face down on the ground and were searched by the Marines. At the same time, Marines cleared bunkers, emerging from one with two Iraqis with bound wrists. One had a dark gray uniform, the other was barefoot. Abandoned weapons mortars were spread over a large area.
Elsewhere, U.S. troops met resistance from Iraqi units. The 7th Marine Infantry's 3rd Batallion apparently had to delay its foray into Iraq after - according to military radios - a large number of previously unknown tanks was sighted on the Iraqi side of the border.
The unit took small arms and artillery fire Thursday night, and at one point a U.S. Cobra helicopter accidentally fired a missile at a U.S. M1 Abrams tank, injuring one soldier and forcing abandonment of the smoldering tank. Friday morning, the unit opened a massive artillery barrage across the border.
In Iraq, Marines in the 1st Division opened fire with machine guns on an Iraqi T-55 tank and destroyed it with a Javelin, a portable anti-tank missile. Troops from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division came into contact with several Iraqi armored personnel carriers, destroying at least three of them, front line troops reported by radio.
There were no reports of U.S. casualties in the engagements. In northern Kuwait, a helicopter crashed Thursday, killing the four American crewmembers and 12 British troops on board.
By taking southern Iraq, the allies would command access to the Gulf and set the stage for the first major conquest on the way to Baghdad - Basra, Iraq's second largest city, just 20 miles from the Kuwait border.
The move on the area between Basra and the Persian Gulf suggested that the allied strategy on the ground calls for a two-pronged attack - one to clear Iraqi resistance in the southern oil region while the other charges north toward Baghdad.
The start of the advance into Iraq was signalled Thursday night by a thunderous artillery barrage by allied forces in northern Kuwait across the border. Infantrymen on the move, their weeks of waiting at an end, cheered as shells screamed overhead.
The armored vehicles of the 1st Marine Division rolled across the border at around 9 p.m. local time (1 p.m. EST). As they moved through the desert, burning oil wells were visible, spewing black smoke into skies lit by a nearly full moon.
Earlier Thursday, elite British troops were dropped by Chinook and Sea Stallion helicopters to seize oil facilities in al-Faw after U.S. Seals prepared the area, according to Britain's Press Association news agency.
Australian troops were also in Iraq identifying targets for coalition aircraft and monitoring Iraqi troop movements, an Australian defense force spokesman said.
Forces continued to mass near the border in northern Kuwait in the morning Friday, preparing to follow into Iraq. The 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade pulled up to a tactical staging area.
``We're poised to do what the 101st does best, air assault,'' the brigade's commander, Col. Michael Linnington, said.
Conditions were sometimes difficult. The Marines drove through thick, swirling dust storms. Troops detected Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles hidden behind sand berms by the heat they gave off, and U.S. aircraft attacked the positions.
None of the forces apparently encountered chemical or biological weapons. The Marines passed burning oil wells, though it was not known who had set them afire. Flames shot up hundreds of feet, thickening the air with black smoke.
The attack came at the end of a day that began with allied troops at the other end of the gun barrel, as Iraq - responding to the American bombardment of Baghdad and other targets - launched missiles into Kuwait.
The Iraqi military claimed in a statement it had repulsed an ``enemy'' attack at Al-Anbar province, on Iraq's border with Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It was not clear what force could be attacking from that point, and the statement did not mention attacks in the south.
In the opening barrage Thursday, the 3rd Infantry Division's artillery opened fire on Iraq with Paladin self-propelled howitzers and multiple launch rocket systems. More than 100 artillery shells were fired toward southern Iraq in a five-minute barrage. White light glowed in the sky above the cannons, as explosions were heard from Iraq.
Earlier in the day, the waiting troops had their first brush with action when Iraq fired missiles into Kuwait. There were cries of ``gas, gas, gas,'' and U.S. troops ran for their protective suits and gas masks - but authorities said none of the missiles carried biological or chemical payloads.
Soldiers of A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment were eating lunch when an Iraqi missile hit the desert. They wore the masks for 20 minutes until given the all-clear.
After removing his mask, the company commander, Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville, Ga., said: ``Saddam is a fool.''
``I think it's an obvious attempt by Saddam Hussein to demoralize the army and the American public,'' Carter said. ``An attempt that has been a miserable failure. He's probably got the guys more ready to fight than ever.''
Some Marines were simply excited to begin fighting, something they had trained to do for years, and occasional screams of ``Let's get it on!'' came from some of their weapons holes.
Associated Press writer Chris Tomlinson, traveling with the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, also contributed to this report.Comment
-
Umm Quasar still held by Iraqi's
. Brits report 'Fierce Resistance' according to AP
Umm Qasr port still in Iraqi hands - UK spokesman
KUWAIT, March 21 (Reuters) - The key Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, on the border with Kuwait, remains in Iraqi hands even though British forces have taken the al-Faw peninsula, on Iraq's southermost tip, a British military spokesman said on Friday.
"We are trying to secure the oil infrastructure, but Umm Qasr has not been taken," Colonel Chris Vernon told Reuters.Comment
-
US believes Iraqi leadership shaken
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. intelligence and Bush administration officials are debating whether Saddam Hussein survived the first strike of the war and to what degree his senior leadership has been shaken.Comment
-
British Marines spokesman confirms that 8 Britons (not 12 as previously thought) and 4 Americans died in the chopper crash. Obviously a game of chinese whispers between the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence...
EDIT: Newslink - http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=KEDCJE3DFM1HICRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=2421084
Sorry, first got this news from Sky News.Last edited by Frozzy; March 21, 2003, 04:07.Comment
-
Looks like cable news cant get it right. Umm Qusar is now in Coalition hands. And once again, its not. Report: Iraqi troops holed up in city (fox)Comment
-
Al Faw not secured all of a sudden (CNN)
God, where are these reports coming from
Comment
-
I doubt Saddam was killed in the first strike. In modern wars, bad bosses are always the last one to fall.
According to this cnn link, Coalition forces barely met any resistance. I'm wondering where the bulk of Iraqi forces are.Comment
-
Cetain news reports before the declaration of war said that Saddam pulled the majority of his Republican Guard into the centre of Baghdad. I'll see if I can dig up a news link for you
Comment
-
"According to this cnn link, Coalition forces barely met any resistance. I'm wondering where the bulk of Iraqi forces are."
Ya Im scratchin my head too. Only about 600 have surrendured and the march through the Iraqi side of the border didnt see any flaming hulks or dead bodies. So were are these guys? Coalition forces in the desert havent met anything either.
Only some resistanece met at Umm Qusar, Bravo Chokepoint, and southern oil fields. All conscripts so far.
http://Comment
-
Our intelligence and surveillance technology should be able to tell the exact locations of large force concentrations. Four Republican Guard Divisions would have up to 1000 MBTs. Anytime such a force moves or concentrates, it will be a very noticeable event.Comment
-
If anyone got any info on the turkish army and the preparation to invade the north of Iraq and any information about North Korea, please post here your news with links!
3:22am here... it's late and the sun is rising up in Europe and Middle-East!
===========
06:22(GMT+1:00) La Corée du Nord accuse les USA de préparer une frappe contre ses installations nucléaires
6:22(GMT+1:00) North Korea accuse USA to prepare a strike against its nuclear installations
===========
Last edited by CrONoS; March 21, 2003, 04:33.blehComment
-
British defence secretary says as many as 30 oil fields set on fire in southern Iraq
Reports of fierce fighting around the big oil fields of northern Iraq.
UK defence secretary Hoon: "Our forces are in fact already facing some stern resistance at Umm Qasr...The Iraqis are not simply giving up in the way that some commentators have suggested that the would. And our forces are fighting."
blehComment
-
Police aresst over 1,000 people at San Fran riots
Police in San Francisco have arrested 1,025 people during violence at an anti-war demonstration.
Protesters blocked streets leading from the city's Oakland Bay Bridge, while small groups of people clashed with police and threw debris.
Tens of thousands of people joined demonstrations across the US.Comment
Comment