Republican Guard column advances on US Marines
By Donald Macintyre in Qatar and John Lichfield
27 March 2003
Two large forces of Republican Guards were reported to be advancing towards US troops yesterday, in what may be the beginning of the first significant Iraqi counter-attack.
The apparent double thrust south from Baghdad towards Nasiriyah and Najaf – the largest Iraqi deployment of the war so far – follows two days of virtual suicide attacks on US armoured forces by columns of light vehicles, ranging from pick-up trucks to taxis. Up to 700 Iraqis are said to have died in two battles near Najaf on Tuesday in which American tanks were attacked by trucks armed with machine-guns and grenade launchers. Two tanks were damaged but American sources could not say whether there were any US casualties.
An unspecified number of US tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles were destroyed in an attack by another force of makeshift Iraqi vehicles, armed with rocket launchers and automatic rifles at Abu Sukhayr, 13 miles south-east of Najaf, yesterday. An American officer said he believed the US crews had escaped from their vehicles but said their fate was unknown.
Last night the Iraqis seemed to be ready to take the war to the enemy on an even larger scale. US sources reported a move south from Kut by an estimated 3,000 Republican Guards, using the cover of the sandstorms that have grounded most American warplanes and helicopters.
The column of Republican Guards – which was seen by American surveillance aircraft – was advancing in 1,000 vehicles towards Nasiriyah, putting them on a collision course with the First Marine Expeditionary Force, heading north.
CNN reported yesterday that American intelligence had detected another advance by a column of 1,000 vehicles, including tanks, from Baghdad towards Najaf.
Before the attacks, the Allies had been talking of slowing or consolidating their advance on Baghdad to concentrate on "mopping up" the guerrilla activity south of the furthest US point of advance. The direct attacks on armoured units and the movement of two columns southwards will force Allied commanders to think again.
Whatever the mismatch in firepower, the Iraqis seem, however briefly, to have seized the initiative.
Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a press briefing at American central command in Qatar: "We've not seen any significant movements [before] of that type of force."
Another Allied source said that there were "significant Iraqi movements" on the road south from Kut. Weather permitting, he said, the Iraqi column would be under attack from RAF Harriers and US ground attack aircraft.
The six divisions of Republican Guards had been dug in around Baghdad and were not expected to move into the open to face the superior equipment of the Allies and expose themselves to air attacks.
It was unclear last night whether the two columns of 1,000 vehicles included many tanks. Their intention might be to attack the marines head on or it might be to fan out into the desert and reinforce the small groups of Iraqis who have been harassing marines and ambushing supply convoys.
Although Nasiriyah was "captured" by the marines three days ago, bands of "irregulars" – either soldiers in civilian clothes or members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen "martyrs brigade" – are still operating in the area. The town came under heavy mortar fire yesterday.
A convoy of US Marines also came under machine-gun fire from several directions as it moved north from Nasiriyah carrying fuel, food and ammunition towards the main marine force yesterday afternoon. There were no reports of casualties. Whatever the precise Iraqi tactics may be, it appears that the Republican Guards – regarded as the most reliable soldiers in the Iraqi army – are not prepared to sit still to be attacked from the air by the heavily armed forces converging on Baghdad from three directions. There were reports yesterday that other Republican Guard units may also be on the move, possibly to replace the 3,000 men who are moving south.
The intention of the Iraqi commanders may be to sow confusion in the Allied forces and – even at great cost to themselves – inflict as much damage as possible before the beginning of the siege of Baghdad proper. Significant Allied casualties, even in one-sided battles lost by the Iraqis, could jolt public opinion in the US and Britain and provide Iraqi propagandists with more television footage of dead or captured Allied troops. Either way, there has been a significant shift in Iraqi tactics in the past 48 hours. Initially, the Iraqis appeared content to launch opportunist ambushes on supply columns and other soft targets.
In the past two days, the so-called irregulars have turned to full-frontal attacks on heavily armed American units.
The battle between US armoured vehicles and light Iraqi vehicles at Abu Sukhayr continued after nightfall yesterday. The Iraqi force, consisting of pick-up trucks and similar vehicles to which machine-guns and rocket launchers had been attached, was attempting to seize control of a bridge over the Euphrates river. There were no immediate reports of American casualties but an officer close to the scene of the fighting told some reporters that several US tanks and armoured personnel carriers had been knocked out.
A similar assault on an armoured column in a thick sandstorm by a force of Iraqi light vehicles on Tuesday led to what was probably the bloodiest single battle of the war so far. Tanks from 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry came under attack from scores of vehicles carrying guns and rockets.
American sources said up to 500 Iraqis had been killed. Two tanks were knocked out. About 200 Iraqis were said to have been killed in a similar attack further east.
26 March 2003 21:48
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