Sandstorm chokes attack on Baghdad

BAGHDAD came under new bombardment last night. The intense sandstorm which has blanketed the city made it impossible to determine where the latest air strikes were hitting. There were no air raid alerts before the attack began.

Despite thunderstorms and swirling winds blowing up the desert sands, British and US aircraft flew 1,400 combat and combat support missions targeting Saddam Hussein's elite units defending the capital.

Since the start of hostilities, US and British forces are reported to have dropped 2,000 precision-guided bombs on Iraq.

US Brigadier General Vince Brooks said that the Iraqis had started lighting oil-filled trenches around Baghdad in an attempt to obscure the city under a thick pall of smoke.

Refugees fleeing the capital said that the Republican Guard had begun adopting the same tactics as the Fedayeen, and dressing in civilian clothing.

"They look like civilians now. They've changed their clothes, but really they are soldiers. They are waiting. They are hiding with guns," said Guma Adam, a Sudanese hairdresser who fled to Jordan after living in the city for 15 years.

Around 20,000 of the Special Republican Guard the only troops sufficiently trusted by Saddam to be allowed to enter Baghdad had been thought to have defensive positions ringing the city.

Meanwhile, dozens of huge Mercedes-Benz trucks were said to have been placed in west Baghdad, apparently for use as mobile rocket launchers.

British and US commanders are reluctant to be drawn into street-to- street fighting, where the advantage of their overwhelmingly superiority in firepower will be largely nullified, and casualties are likely to be high.

However, they have acknowledged at some point the city will have to be taken if Saddam's regime is to be finally destroyed.

Coalition commanders yesterday warned Iraqi civilians to stay off the roads and remain in their homes as US and British warplanes pounded Republican Guard positions ahead of the looming battle for Baghdad.

The US director of operations Major General Victor Renuart said they managed to "maintain and increase the pressure on the regime on all fronts".

Speaking at US Central Command in Qatar, he said that coalition warplanes had paid particular attention to the Republican Guard divisions which were being drawn up to defend Baghdad.