Battles Rage in Iraqi Cities, Bodies Litter Desert
Reuters
Sunday, March 23, 2003; 3:15 PM
By Luke Baker and Rosalind Russell
SOUTHERN IRAQ (Reuters) - Charred Iraqi corpses smolder in burned-out trucks. Black smoke hangs over bombed cities where U.S. troops battle Iraqi soldiers. Youths greet British tanks with smiles, then sneer when they have passed.
Reuters correspondents in southern Iraq -- some with U.S.-led forces, some operating independently -- watched the war to topple Saddam Hussein unfold on Sunday as U.S. convoys advanced on Baghdad and battles raged for control of key cities.
In the desert near the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, just 100 miles south of Baghdad, correspondent Luke Baker traveled through a plain littered with Iraqi bodies and gutted vehicles after U.S. forces fought a seven-hour battle against militiamen desperately trying to halt their advance.
Some vehicles were still smoldering, and charred ribs were the only recognizable part of three burned bodies in a destroyed car lying in the roadside dust.
"It wasn't even a fair fight. I don't know why they don't just surrender," said Col. Mark Hildenbrand, commander of the 937th Engineer Group. "When you're playing soccer at home, 3-2 is a fair score, but here it's more like 119-0."
U.S. troops showed reporters a hideout said to have been used by an Iraqi militiaman. The soldier who had used the hideout had only a filthy blanket to protect him from the cold desert nights, and just a plastic bag of raw meat for food.
When he fled, he left behind a picture of his two children.
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