Allies secure airport as crucial forces base

TWO US soldiers were killed as American forces secured Baghdad airport yesterday, a crucial step in their bid to establish a base of operations for coalition forces just outside the Iraqi capital.

One officer was killed and his driver wounded when their vehicle came under mortar fire from an Iraqi position outside Saddam International Airport while an engineer platoon sergeant was shot and killed by “an enemy infiltration attempt” on the periphery of the complex, said Colonel Will Grimsley, commander of the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade.

Saddam International Airport was promptly renamed Baghdad International Airport by the military.