Up to 3,000 Iraqis killed in Baghdad blitz

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Between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqi fighters were killed in a show-of-force foray into Baghdad by American armored vehicles, the U.S. Central Command said today.

Iraqis check the wreckage of an armored personnel carrier that was destroyed during a gun battle in Baghdad. Black-clad members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen militia appeared in the streets for the first time. Associated Press

More than three-dozen tanks and armored vehicles were involved; U.S. casualties were described as light.

The blitz took two task forces of the 3rd Infantry Division from the southern outskirts of the city past Baghdad University and near the banks of the Tigris River, then back to the western outskirts of the city to the airport, which is under U.S. control.

While some Iraqi civilians welcomed the troops, others put up a fight, including a mixture of Republican Guard and irregular forces, Wilkinson said.

U.S. military officials have indicated there will be more of such forays, aimed at sending a message to Baghdad's defenders that the city could be breached at any time. Meanwhile, U.S. pressure in and around Baghdad intensified in other ways today.

A Marine battalion overran a Republican Guard headquarters and seized one of Saddam Hussein's palaces south of the city. Overhead, U.S. warplanes were flying around the clock, coordinating precision strikes in support of upcoming ground attacks.

U.S. commanders, whose forces have virtually encircled Baghdad, cautioned that tough urban combat may lie ahead before the city falls, but their mood was confident.

"I would think the Iraqi people feel a sense of somewhat relief that this repressive regime and its ability to brutalize them is about over," said Maj. Brad Bartelt, a Central Command spokesman.

In northern Iraq, a BBC correspondent reported a grim friendly-fire incident, saying that he was in a convoy carrying Kurdish fighters and U.S. special forces that was attacked by a U.S. plane. The correspondent, John Simpson, said it appeared that 10 to 12 people in the convoy were killed; he said he and his translator were injured.

There was no immediate comment on the report from Central Command.

In southern Iraq, British armored units today moved into downtown Basra for the first time since encircling the city early in the war, according to reporters in the area. Until now, the British have steered away from an all-out assault, hoping that the predominantly Shiite Muslim populace of Basra would turn against the pro-Saddam militiamen defending Iraq's second-biggest city.

Yesterday, coalition aircraft struck the Basra home of Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majid, the Iraqi general known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering a poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds in 1988.

Allied officials said the general — Saddam's cousin — was believed to be home at the time, but it was not known whether he was killed or wounded.

Coalition forces today positively identified the body of the general's bodyguard, Wilkinson said. "They're still sifting through the rubble down there to see if Chemical Ali was dead," he said.

He said hundreds of people in the neighborhood began cheering after the strike.

U.S. Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, guard an intersection during their advance near Hatif Haiyawi on the outskirts of Baghdad. Associated Press

Military sources said warheads were found in Aziziyah, about 55 miles southeast of Baghdad. They were being run through a battery of state-of-the-art analyses by the military's Fox Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle — a six-wheeled mobile lab that contains a mass spectrometer for the detection of chemical warfare agents.

Another stash of rockets was found in this the central Iraqi town of Sayyid Abid, and, military sources said, each was equipped with clear vials containing an unknown substance. Military biological hazard teams are investigating.

Army chemical weapons detection teams also have been called to a field outside of Aziziyah to follow up on tips by villagers that barrels were secretly buried and then covered with concrete and dirt. Marines initially dug through the dirt and found fresh concrete. They then called in the chemical investigators.

In Qatar, a Central Command official said the sites are under investigation. To date, no weapons of mass destruction — a keystone of the Bush administration's rationale for the invasion — have been found, though military leaders have said areas where they might be found have not yet been reached by coalition forces.

Over Baghdad, U.S. jets and spy drones started round-the-clock patrols over the city yesterday to provide close air support for any urban fighting ahead. Thousands of civilians fled the capital. And fighting did continue elsewhere in the country yesterday, sometimes in hand-to-hand combat, sometimes with aerial bombing and strafing of Iraqi forces.

"We're not softening them up. We're killing them," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Moseley, commander of the overall U.S. air war. "I'm not willing to tell you we killed them all, but we crippled them a bit, and those who are still walking are walking with a limp."

Officials of Saddam's were defiant in trying to convince the city's 5 million residents that allied forces were being pushed back.

"We butchered the force present at the airport," said Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf.

A separate statement by the Iraqi military said bluntly: "We were able to chop off their rotten heads."

Fighting remained intense at several locations outside the city.

In a marsh just outside Baghdad, U.S. Marines used bayonets in hand-to-hand fighting with a band of Saddam supporters who came from Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and other countries. There was no word on casualties.