Republican Guard targeted by Apaches

COALITION forces have begun a massive aerial bombardment of Iraqi Republican Guard units entrenched just outside Saddam Hussein’s capital, military chiefs said yesterday.

The aim is to “soften up” the Iraqi dictator’s elite troops before ground forces arrive to begin the “Battle of Baghdad”.

Up to 40 helicopters from the US Army’s 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment were involved in the first assault on the Republican Guard’s Medina Division, one of six stationed in and around Baghdad.

Each division could have more than 10,000 men.

Around 30 surface-to-surface missiles were also fired at Republican Guard command posts and their artillery, which could be used to fire chemical shells.

One US Apache helicopter was downed in the attack and the fate of the two crewmen is unknown.

General Tommy Franks, head of US Central Command in Qatar, said the Republican Guard could expect to be battered further. “They have been hit and they will continue to be hit at points and places and times that we choose,” he said. “The effect has been very positive for us.”

Coalition commanders want to stop the Republican Guard from retreating back inside Baghdad to fight a guerrilla war. They also hope crushing the Medina Division would encourage others, including the Al Amarah and Baghdad Divisions stationed to the south of the city, to give up.

In the assault against the Medina Division, the Apaches fired Hellfire anti-tank missiles at the Republican Guards' T72 tanks over a period of three hours. Meanwhile, coalition ground forces led by the 3rd Infantry Division are nearly on the Medina, having reached the city of Karbala, about 60 miles south-east of Baghdad, where they ran into a sandstorm.

The assault on the Republican Guard will be led by the US Army’s V Corps. However, there are fears the speed of the advance to Baghdad, which included bypassing Basra, the country’s second biggest city, has left coalition lines open to attack by Saddam’s fedayeen militia and other security services. Thousands of their operatives are thought to be in the south of Iraq, some armed with anti-tank weapons and rocket-propelled grenades ready to launch an ambush.