Battle for Basra Met by Strong Iraqi Resistance
By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 23, 2003; Page A19
ALONG THE BASRA HIGHWAY, Iraq, March 22 -- U.S. Marine AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships fired repeated volleys of missiles and machine gun blasts at targets in and around Basra today, touching off blazes that sent half a dozen huge plumes of black smoke wafting over the strategic southern city.
The helicopters, attacking in pairs, swooped in low through the smoke, firing their missiles, then circling away, with two others immediately behind. Relentlessly, the helicopters bombarded Iraq's second-largest city from two directions, making at least a dozen forays during a 30-minute period. The missile strikes were interspersed with long blasts of heavy machine gun fire from the whirring attack aircraft.
The intense attacks late this afternoon underscored the resistance mounted by Iraqi defenders around Basra despite earlier reports that the city of more than 1 million had already fallen to U.S. Marines and British Royal Marines advancing swiftly up the main road from Safwan, 25 miles to the south on the Kuwaiti border. Along the road, British and U.S. tanks and armored vehicles were seen racing toward the fighting, but there were no visible attempts by ground forces to enter the city.
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