Convoys flee intense Baghdad bombardment

THOUSANDS of residents were fleeing Baghdad in a stream of bumper-to-bumper vehicles yesterday, after US troops seized the city’s Saddam International Airport.

Anticipating an intense battle, Iraqi civilians packed food and belongings into trucks, buses and cars, in a mass exodus from the city's northern and north-eastern districts.

Civilians trying to escape the fighting around the airport, just 12 miles south-west of the city centre, fled into Baghdad in vehicles piled high with blankets and possessions.