Coalition soldiers inch towards Baghdad

Allied soldiers inched towards Baghdad today, capturing or killing paramilitary and Republican Guard defenders while new waves of US bombs set off blazes in the Iraqi capital.

US troops killed about 100 paramilitaries in and around the Shiite holy city of Najaf and seized several dozen elite soldiers of the Republican Guard in Hindiyah, south of Baghdad.

The dawn assault on Hindiyah was the closest known point in the US-led advance on Baghdad, where a battle with the Republican Guard, the best-trained Iraqi troops, loomed on the horizon.

At least 35 Iraqi troops were reported killed in the town on the Euphrates. Allied soldiers also cleared the towns of Afak, Hajil and Budayr in the region.

But senior Iraqi officials remained defiant in the capital today.

Foreign Minister Naji Sabri questioned the legitimacy of the US-led attacks and called on coalition soldiers to surrender.

“America and Britain have no choice but to surrender and withdraw,” he said. “They will not leave our land safe and sound if they continue to be stubborn in their aggression. We will confront them with all we have .... No one will be safe.”

“We will turn our deserts into a big graveyard for the Americans and British,” he said.

US military spokesman Brig Gen Vincent Brooks also struck a defiant posture at his briefing at US Central Command in Qatar.

“There is no future for the regime or anyone that supports it. Will they fight to the death? Probably. We are seeing that in a number of places,” he said.

US warplanes, including a massive fleet of long-range bombers, pounded Baghdad and Tomahawk missiles ignited a fire that raged before dawn at the Iraqi Information Ministry. The blaze was put out after about 30 minutes.

The attacks were carried out simultaneously by multiple B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers, the US Central Command said.

The command said it was the first time in history that all three long-range strike aircraft targeted the same geographical area at the same time.

In northern Iraq today, coalition aircraft pounded Iraqi positions in Kalak, a town just east of the strategic city of Mosul.

Iraqis could be seen running for cover along the treeless ridge west of the great Zab River. Kalak is at the border between Iraq proper and parts of the country held by minority Kurds.

On the 12th day of the war to oust Saddam Hussein, questions have arisen about the pace and impact of the US-led campaign.

Despite claims of success, coalition forces appear to be bogged down in the south where an anticipated uprising by the Shiites has not occurred. Closer to Baghdad, Saddam’s defence appears more resilient than US war planners had anticipated.

But US war leaders defended their strategy.

“We have the power to be patient in this, and we’re not going to do anything before we’re ready,” said Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“It’s going to get more difficult as we move closer to Baghdad,” US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. “I would suspect that the most dangerous and difficult days are still ahead of us.”

US and British forces reported increased contacts with ordinary Iraqis on many fronts yesterday, a development measured – like the march towards Baghdad – in wary steps.

The reason for the caution was clear: persistent danger from plainclothes combatants and warnings from Iraqi officials that there will be more suicide attacks like the one that killed four Americans in Najaf at the weekend. An Iraqi official said about 4,000 Arabs have come to Iraq to help attack coalition troops.

After the suicide attack at Najaf and continuing trouble from combatants out of uniform, nervous US troops are warning approaching drivers they will be shot if they do not leave the area.

In Nasiriyah, where fighting has been fierce for a week, US Marines secured buildings held by an Iraqi infantry division that contained large caches of weapons and chemical decontamination equipment.

A Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed last night at a forward supply and refuelling point in southern Iraq, killing three people on board.

So far about 42 American and 25 British soldiers have been killed. Seven Americans are being held prisoner, according to Iraqi officials and 17 others are reported missing.

There are no estimates of Iraqi combatants killed, but officials in Baghdad say about 425 civilians have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded.

Gen Tommy Franks, the US war commander, said: “One never knows how long a war will take.”

Close to 100,000 US service members are in Iraq, supported by about 200,000 in the theatre and with 100,000 more on the way.

US officials said coalition ground forces were closing in on Baghdad from the south, west and north – with the southern frontline about 50 miles from the capital.

Myers said air strikes have reduced some units of the Republican Guard, Saddam’s best-trained forces, to less than half their pre-war capacity.

British troops moved into villages on the fringes of Basra, the southern city where an outnumbered but tough core of Saddam loyalists have held off the coalition for about a week.

Up to 1,000 Royal Marines and supporting troops, backed by heavy artillery and tanks, staged a commando assault in a Basra suburb, killing some 30 Iraqi fighters and destroying a bunker and several tanks.

Officials said Operation James – named for James Bond – was the Marines’ largest mission so far.