US and British warplanes, guided by special forces soldiers on the ground, began an intense bombardment of Republican Guard bunkers outside Baghdad yesterday to prepare the way for an assault on the Iraqi capital.
Troops from the US army 5th Corps have formed a frontline just north of Kerbala, only 80 kilometres south of Baghdad. Vast convoys of tanks and ground forces are racing up from Kuwait to join them for the battle that will ultimately decide the war in Iraq. ”This is the start of the push towards Baghdad,” a senior British military source said last night.
Ahead of them are 36 000 elite Iraqi soldiers, from three divisions, who represent half of the total Republican Guard force. Protected in sprawling bunkers about 50 kilometres outside Baghdad, the armoured divisions are equipped with the best weapons in the Iraqi military, including Russian-built T-72 tanks and heavy artillery.
”Before we start moving forward, these people have got to capitulate or be destroyed,” the source said.
As a total of 19 British soldiers were listed as dead or missing on the war’s fifth day, it was revealed last night that Tony Blair is to meet President George Bush for talks on the progress of the war. One unnamed US official said Blair had asked for the meeting. ”I think Blair feels he needs this consultation,” the official said.
The meeting is expected to take place at the Camp David presidential retreat on Wednesday or Thursday.
Blair told MPs that coalition forces would shortly encounter the Medina division of the Republican Guard, who are positioned north of the frontline to defend the route to Baghdad. ”This will be a crucial moment,” the prime minister said. Promising ”certain victory” for coalition forces, he added: ”The vital goal is to reach Baghdad as swiftly as possible, thus bringing the end of the regime closer.”
But there were stark reminders yesterday of how perilous the assault on Baghdad will be.
A night assault by 32 Apache attack helicopters on the Medina division’s second armoured brigade north of Kerbala ended with at least one helicopter being downed and the rest being forced to withdraw in the face of fierce resistance from Iraqi forces, armed mainly with small arms and rocket propelled grenades.
US and British aircraft, including B-52s, Harrier GR7 attack jets and A10 Warthogs, are being used to target the three Republican Guard divisions in a high risk day-and-night bombardment that could continue for several days.
Troops from the SAS and their US equivalent, the Delta force, are on the ground close to the Iraqi positions as ”forward air controllers”, using lasers to identify targets for bombing.
US artillery units also launched surface-to-surface missiles against Iraqi positions south of Baghdad yesterday, according to a Channel 4 News journalist, Carl Dinnen, who is with the 5th Corps.
As well as the Medina division, coalition forces will be confronted by the Baghdad division, south of the capital, and the Amarra, due east. Each has up to 12 000 men at full battle strength and substantial amounts of military equipment. ”If it is available they have got it,” the British military source said. An extensive Iraqi air defence system — known as a Super Missile Engagement Zone — is still in place across central Iraq to defend the Republican Guard.
But General Tommy Franks, the US commander of allied forces, insisted that the bombing of the Republican Guards was going well. ”They have been hit and they continue to be hit at points and places and times that make sense to us,” he said. ”The effect has been very positive for us.”
He warned that the fighting would intensify as it moved closer to Baghdad. ”I expect we will see casualties in the days ahead,” he said. ”Our resolve is great, the morale is good and, as we always say, there is no doubt about the outcome.”
As preparations for the main assault on the capital continued, the first British combat death of the war was announced. The soldier, who has not been named, was killed near Az Zubayr on Sunday evening as he tried to calm rioting civilians, the Ministry of Defence said.
British troops were also continuing the search for two soldiers who went missing after their unit came under fire in the desert near Basra.
Meanwhile, British forces remain caught up in dealing with pockets of intense Iraqi resistance across southern Iraq. Fighting continued yesterday in Umm Qasr, Basra and Nassiriya.
The fierce firefight between the Apache helicopter force and Republican Guard took place north of the town of Hillah. The downed Apache crash landed in a field near Kerbala. Iraq claimed it had been shot down by farmers, a claim denied by Gen Franks, who confirmed the two crew members were missing.
CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul, who flew in the helicopter regiment’s command aircraft during the three-hour mission, said they had run into a ”hornet’s nest” of incoming fire. The Apache pilots were ”somewhat dazed, somewhat confused” because they had not expected such strong resistance.
Attacks on US supply lines have also led to concerns that the main force advancing on Baghdad may have over-extended itself, leaving its troops worn out and its route back to Kuwait unprotected. – Guardian Unlimited Â