AS
SALIYAH, Qatar, April 4 (IslamONline.net & News Agencies) - U.S.
ground troops have found underground facilities at Baghdad’s Saddam
International Airport where there could be Iraqi forces waiting to wage
battle, U.S. Central Command said Friday, April 4.
"We
found that there are underground facilities at this airport,"
Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters at the Qatar-based
headquarters of the Central Command, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
"We
don't know what we'll find there. There may in fact be someone to fight
in those underground facilities," he said.
A
U.S. officer however told an AFP reporter at the airport that all
buildings were being searched and tunnels were suspected to exist.
Brooks
earlier said that Saddam International Airport had been renamed after
American forces allegedly took effective control of it earlier in the
day.
"The
airport now has a new name, Baghdad International Airport, and it is a
gateway to the future of Iraq," he said.
"We
made efforts more than a week ago to ensure that (the airport) could not
be used for the take-off of any regime leaders," he said.
"Most
importantly we preserved it for the future of Iraq, and that's the most
significant aspect of what we'll get out of having that terrain,"
he said.
The
central Command earlier on the day claimed control over Saddam Airport
after overnight fighting.
"The
airport now has a new name, Baghdad International Airport, and it is a
gateway to the future of Iraq," Brooks told a press briefing.
Earlier
Friday, U.S. troops continued to exchange heavy gunfire and artillery
fire with Iraqi troops in and around Baghdad's Saddam International
Airport, according to reporters in the embattled Iraqi capital.
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A tank stops
near the entrance of Saddam International Airport
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The
fighting, which raged as the troops attempted to gain full control of
the facility, began at about 7:30 am (0330 GMT), shortly after U.S.
forces said they had seized about 80 percent of the sprawling civilian
and military airport complex, according to an AFP correspondent.
Iraqi
forces were shelling U.S. positions within the airport, situated 20
kilometers (12 miles) southwest of Baghdad.
Colonel
Will Grimsley, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade said
"U.S. forces have occupied the VIP terminal at the airport."
Forty prisoners of war had been taken in the fighting, he added.
"They
are all Special Republican Guard and special forces."
Grimsley
also said two American soldiers suffered shrapnel injuries, but he was
unable to provide any details on their status.
U.S.
reports speak of at least 320 Iraqi soldiers killed in the fighting in
which about 1,000 American troops were deployed, according to the BBC
online news service.
General
Richard Myers, the top U.S. military officer, warned that there were
"still a lot of tough fights ahead".
"Nobody
should be euphoric that now that we are on the edge of Baghdad this
thing is just about over," he said. "That's not true."
Major
John Altman, an intelligence officer with the 3rd Infantry, told AFP at
the airport that the troops controlled "probably 80%" of the
airport.
But
it would not, he said, be secure "until you've gone to every room
of every building - there's a lot of buildings".
U.S.
invasion forces began their assault on the airport on Thursday evening,
raining heavy artillery fire on it. Witnesses said dozens were killed
and injured.
The
first U.S. Bradley fighting vehicles and M1 Abrams tanks breached the
airport perimeter walls at 7:30 pm (1630 GMT), according to 3ID Captain
Michael McKinnon.
