Early-morning battle destroys Iraqi columns
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff, 3/27/2003
AJAF, Iraq - American airstrikes and artillery barrages early yesterday destroyed two Iraqi armored columns as they tried to move south from the Baghdad area to challenge the US Third Infantry Division at its encampment about 50 miles south of the capital, US officials here said.
In making the dash toward the US forces, the Iraqis appeared to be trying to stave off an expected assault on Baghdad and to motivate stubborn holdouts behind the American lines.
The fighting began about 2 a.m. and ended after dawn. It flared on both sides of the Euphrates River near this strategic south-central Iraqi city, and was the most intense since the Third Infantry Division encamped near here over the weekend.
Also yesterday, US military officials reported that two Iraqi rockets, seized by American troops Tuesday southeast of Najaf, were suspected of containing chemical munitions. It was unlear whether they had been fired or where they were found. The rockets were undergoing testing in a military lab, said Lieutenant Christopher Pike, an intelligence officer with the Third Infantry Division.
In Washington, a spokesman said the Pentagon could offer no immediate comment on the suspected chemical munitions.
Reports later in the day said a large Iraqi column was moving south from Baghdad toward US forces. It was not known whether that movement was related to the predawn fighting here.
The clashes early yesterday on the east bank of the Euphrates River demolished a column of Iraqi reinforcements headed south to reinforce paramilitary fighters trapped in Najaf between US armored troops, Major Rob Bailes, an operations officer with the Third Infantry Division, told a Globe reporter traveling with the division.
Almost simultaneously, another column of Iraqi troops on the west side of the river was pounded as it approached the sprawling desert camp where the Third Infantry has been resupplying since its rapid drive north from Kuwait. B-1 bombers dropping 2,000-pound bombs and F-18 attack aircraft were used in the assault, which routed the Iraqis after they had advanced to within three miles of the camp.
''We were kind of on edge,'' Bailes said. ''We had our engines running and were readying to leave here and respond to the attack.''
Intelligence officers said the western Iraqi advance might have been a feint to distract attention from the eastern move against the US camp at Najaf, located on one of the main supply routes for US forces heading toward Baghdad.
In all, the Army estimated that the combined attacks, which unleashed a barrage of hundreds of artillery rounds and rockets, destroyed about 30 vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, and killed hundreds of troops, some of whom are believed to be from Republican Guard units. According to Bailes, one Iraqi officer wore the uniform of the Republican Guard, the elite force that Hussein has entrusted with the defense of Baghdad.
''This tells us that Najaf is pretty important to them,'' Bailes said. Although US troops still surround Najaf, military officials today described the city as ''contained but not secure.''
In other developments in the area:
US forces discovered what is believed to be the major ammunition depot for the Najaf area. Approximately 90 buildings stocked with artillery rounds, ammunition, and logistical supplies were seized.
US armor relieved three tanks and three Humvees that had been trapped on the east side of the Euphrates after the bridge they crossed was destroyed by Iraqis. The relief crossed the river north of the isolated troops and rumbled south to protect their withdrawal.
Of more immediate concern were the Fedayeen, the stubborn resistance fighters who had prevented US forces from gaining complete control of Nasiriyah, Sanawah, and Najaf, all of which had been skirted by the Third Infantry on its push north. US military officials have said the Fedayeen attacks, including terrorist-style hit-and-run missions, could pose significant problems as the US supply route is extended farther during the push to Baghdad.
During the fighting around Najaf, for example, a civilian fuel tanker tried to ram a US tank in an apparent suicide mission, officials here said.
''We have to get bullets and supplies up the road,'' Bailes said.
Another unexpected discovery yesterday was the presence of a blond, blue-eyed soldier among the Iraqi troops, Bailes said. The operations officer speculated that the soldier is Chechen, although his nationality had not yet been confirmed.
In addition to the possible use of Muslim fighters from outside Iraq, Bailes said, Hussein apparently has taken some cues from fighting in Somalia and Chechnya, where small, determined resistance has been shown to be effective in protracting a conflict against superior numbers and technology.
Quick, harassing strikes are ''difficult for an armored force to defend against,'' Bailes said.
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