The ground war began in Iraq last night when British and American marines stormed beaches on the Gulf coast in an assault on the south-eastern city of Basra, amid preliminary reports that Iraqi defences were in disarray.
The first British and American casualties of the campaign came in the early hours of the morning, UK time, when a US Marine CH 46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed 14 kilometres south of the Iraqi border in northern Kuwait.
On board were 16 servicemen including the crew and British soldiers. It was unclear early today how many were British. ”Apparently no-one has survived,” a US official said. He added that the helicopter was returning from a mission that had been cancelled , due to ”weather issues”. He said the cause of the crash was unknown, but there had been no signs of hostile fire.
In the most dramatic action of the war so far, British Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade launched a helicopter and hovercraft assault on the Faw peninsula where the strategically vital Shatt-al-Arab waterway meets the Gulf. There were also reports that British and US marines had taken the port town of Umm Qasr on the route to Basra.
The assault was preceded by a barrage by coalition artillery, naval guns and cruise missiles, along with aircraft launched from US carriers in the Gulf. Early today blasts were reported on the outskirts of the majority Sh’ite city of Basra.
Meanwhile in the north the al-Jazeera television network, in a live report from its report on the scene, said explosions could be heard in the northern city of Mosul.
Earlier, a military statement read on Iraqi television spoke of military activity at Akashat and Nukhaib in the western desert, where military experts suggest that US and British special forces may be operating.
US defence officials claimed the psychological offensive on Iraqi soldiers, under which they have been bombarded with radio messages and millions of leaflets urging them to stand aside, was bringing significant successes, although they did not give details. ”So far, so very, very good,” an official said.
Officials at the Pentagon said that advance elements of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force pushed their way northwards through the sand barriers along the frontier after nightfall, but did not reveal their destination. In what appeared to be the first skirmish with opposition troops , the US marines destroyed two Iraqi armoured cars.
Journalists with the 101st Airborne Division reported that its air assault troops were also in southern Iraq, alongside special forces units which have been infiltrating for days.
One official in the Pentagon said that the unexpected nature of the first hours of the assault — a staggered attack using an initially small number of ground troops — was a result of tactical decisions taken by the field commander in Qatar, General Tommy Franks, responding to events and to Iraqi manoeuvres.
”From now on, it’s in his hands, and we will not always know what is going on,” the official said. ”When you see shock and awe you will know about it.”
Gen Franks may have dispatched his troops early in response to reports that the south-eastern oil fields were burning, and to counter Iraqi artillery and missile attacks aimed at northern Kuwait. US and British troops along the border repeatedly donned protection suits as fears were raised that some of the shells and missiles might contain chemical or biological agents.
However, there were no reports of any such weapons being used by late last night. Nor was there any confirmation of early reports that Scud missiles, also banned by the United Nations, had been used against coalition forces. At least one of four incoming missiles was destroyed in mid-flight by Patriot interceptor missiles and debris was being analysed by military experts.
The Pentagon admitted that a special forces helicopter had crash landed behind the lines. The soldiers were rescued by another helicopter and the damaged aircraft was bombed to prevent it falling into Iraqi hands.
Mr Rumsfeld said he had received indications that the Iraqi regime had set fire to three or four oil wells. US defence officials said later the oilfields were west of Basra in the south-east of Iraq. Press reports confirmed that fires were visible from the area.
Defence and intelligence officials appeared confident that the pre-dawn cruise missile and stealth aircraft attack on a ”leadership compound” on the southern outskirts of Baghdad had killed a number of senior Iraqi officials.
As the day went by however, US hopes that Saddam Hussein had been killed and that a double had made a subsequent video broadcast, began to fade. ”I would not steer you in that direction,” an official said.
There were suggestions that the predicted punitive aerial bombardment was being delayed pending greater clarity on the state of the Iraqi army. – Guardian Unlimited Â