The Marines enter Iraq... go get 'em boys.
Pentagon: Marines enter Iraq
Thursday, March 20, 2003 Posted: 1:58 PM EST (1858 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Several large explosions rocked the Iraqi capital at about 9 p.m. Thursday (1 p.m. EST). At the same time, Pentagon sources said elements of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was moving into Iraq from the southeastern border with Kuwait.
CNN's Nic Robertson reported hearing multiple explosions in the south of Baghdad and the center of the city.
A raging fire could be seen in one large building in the central part of the city and a smaller fire burned nearby, Robertson reported.
Air raid sirens sounded briefly, about 20 minutes before the blasts, followed a few minutes later by flashes of anti-aircraft fire that lit the night sky.
This followed the U.S. and coalition forces' launch of a series of strikes with Thursday's "decapitation attack" aimed at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his leadership to pave the way for a full-fledged attack and ground invasion, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Marines have clashed with Iraqi troops and a allied bombardment has begun along the border between Iraq and Kuwait, correspondents from CNN and other news agencies reported Thursday.
CNN Correspondents Art Harris and Lisa Rose Weaver reported intense attacks by U.S. artillery and aircraft on positions in southern Iraq. New York Times reporter John Kifner, traveling with the U.S. 1st Marine Division, said Marines had engaged Iraqi troops south of the Iraqi border in Kuwait in what is believed to be the first ground combat of the war.
Kifner said the Marines encountered two Iraqi armored personnel carriers and destroyed them.
Seven aircraft performing missions from the USS Abraham Lincoln dropped bombs Thursday over Iraq aimed at targets U.S. officials deem to be a threat, military officials said, adding that attacks would continue throughout the day.
Pentagon officials confirm that U.S. Special Forces are performing reconnaissance missions in southern Iraq, CNN's Barbara Starr reported Thursday. "They call it preparing the battlefield," Starr said. |
