Tough Iraqi resistance apparently played its toll on the morale of invasion troops

BAGHDAD, March 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S.-led invasion forces inflicted more heavy bombing Baghdad early Tuesday, March 25, but The Iraqi forces put up stiff resistance in two key southern cities.

Heavy bombing was heard in the center of the Iraqi capital as the sixth day of the invasion unfolded. It followed a massive non-stop bombardment south of Baghdad.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the invasion forces had advanced close to Karbala, within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Baghdad and the capture of the capital was now the main aim, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

U.S. General Tommy Franks, who is in charge of the military campaign, also said in Qatar that "progress toward our objectives has been rapid and in some cases dramatic."

However, U.S. and British invasion forces were being held up in the key southern cities of Nasiriyah, a key crossing point over the Euphrates river, and Basra, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Backed by Abrams tanks and Cobra helicopters, the invasion forces launched a fresh assault on Nasiriyah. A U.S. Marine officer said between 4,000 and 5,000 troops were involved.

"We're going straight through this city," he said. "It will be a Hail Mary with guns blazing."

But in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, fierce Iraqi resistance, including attacks by forces pretending to surrender and using women and children as decoys, forced British troops to withdraw, British officials said.

"We were expecting a lot of hands up from Iraqi soldiers and for the humanitarian operation in Basra to begin fairly quickly behind us, with aid organizations providing food and water to the locals," British Army Captain Patrick Trueman said.

"But it hasn't quite worked out that way." He added.

In another setback to invasion forces, Iraqi state television showed footage of two men it said were pilots of a downed U.S. Apache helicopter Monday, March 24.

U.S. commanders admitted that two pilots of an Apache helicopter were missing after a raid on Iraqi elite Republican Guard south of Baghdad.

The men drank tea but did not speak during the four-five minutes of footage. They did not appear to be injured. Iraqi television also showed credit cards, personal effects and a Texas state driver's license.

It said they were "prisoners of war" who would be treated in line with the Geneva Conventions."

Iraqi television Sunday, March 23, showed five U.S. prisoners, as well as the bodies of at least four others, bringing an angry response from the United States and a warning that prisoners should not be humiliated.

But Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said the prisoners of war in Iraqi hands will be treated in accordance with "the teachings of Islam,"

Iraqi prisoners were shown on TV Stations and interviewed by foreign reporters since the second day of the invasion campaign.

"For 10 years pictures of Palestinian prisoners have been shown all over the world, and in the Gulf everyone has been watching images of Iraqi prisoners kneeling in humiliation," said Michel Kik, the representative in France of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera which also run the footages of the U.S. soldiers.

First British Combat Casualty

Captured U.S. Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams

Britain's defense ministry confirmed on Monday the first combat death of a British soldier, saying he had been killed in action south of Basra and two British soldiers were reported missing, presumed dead in southern Iraq.

Officers said the soldier was shot during a riot, as the operation to take the southern capital became bogged down.

The man, who has not been named, was hit on Sunday evening during attempts to calm rioting Iraqi civilians and died of his wounds on Monday.

Officers said that the shooting occurred during a "civil disturbance in the Basra area", but declined to give further details.

Two British soldiers who disappeared on Sunday after their Land Rover was ambushed by Iraqi fighters using a rocket-propelled grenade, in the town of al Zubayr, just west of Basra, remained missing Monday night.

No trace had been found of their vehicle and it was feared the pair have been either captured or killed.

Serious pockets of resistance have been met in al Zubayr.

The British Ministry of Defense refused to comment further on either incident, citing the need to contact next-of-kin and maintain operational confidentiality with respect to missing persons.

Stiff Iraqi Resistance

British commanders were considering calling in paratroopers and Royal Marine Commandos to assist the battle for Basra after acknowledging it might be necessary to engage in street combat to secure the city.

The decision to contemplate reinforcements came as the 7th Armored Brigade, the Desert Rats, which is spearheading the drive to Basra, continued to face stiff opposition, both at the edges of the city and beyond.

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, one of four Desert Rats battle groups, were forced to retreat about 10 miles (15 kilometers) to avoid a potential ambush by Republican Guards, who were reported to be heading out of Basra in civilian clothes in an attempt to kill British troops in a surprise attack.

Artillery shells were fired into the city, where 1,000 Iraqi fighters are believed to be sheltering, some using civilian buildings as bases.

Elsewhere, sporadic attacks by non-uniformed paramilitaries continue, with gunfire, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades all reported to be posing a threat.

Continuing resistance to British forces in southern Iraq means that an advance into Basra, which it had been hoped would be completed as early as Monday, might now be delayed by several days or even longer.

"It looks like being a lot tougher than we thought ... Basra is a divisional operation now, not just 7th Armored Brigade," said one officer.

Another added: "If Basra is not a benign environment we are going to need more infantry to go in."

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began Thursday, March 20, 14 British marines and naval air crew have died in two helicopter accidents, while two Royal Air Force crew died when their Tornado bomber was hit by a U.S. missile.

A U.S soldier was shot dead Monday in central Iraq, and comrades chasing after his killer shot dead two Iraqis and captured several others, U.S. officers said.

More Iraqi Casualties

About 40 U.S. and British invasion forces have been killed in the invasion but the civilian toll is also mounting.

A U.S. military spokesman admitted missiles fired by U.S. forces had hit a bus during an attack on a bridge in Iraq, killing five Syrians returning to their country on Sunday.

"The bus stopped on the bridge and was hit by munitions already released prior to the bus approaching the bridge," said the spokesman.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said Al-Sahhaf said 24 people had been killed and 411 injured in bombardments of Baghdad, Karbala, Basra and Babel and another five civilians, including a woman, died when a missile hit a densely-populated area of Baghdad.

In northern Iraq, U.S.-led forces bombed targets around the oil city of Kirkuk on Monday and moved more forces into eastern Iraqi Kurdistan, as pro-U.S. Kurdish forces signaled the possible opening of a new front in the offensive.

A Kirkuk resident reported "many dead and injured" after a morning of intense air strikes on Iraqi army positions guarding the perimeter of the city.