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U.S.
marines from the 2nd Battalion 8th Regiment carry the body of one
of two U.S. army soldiers killed by Iraqi forces
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BAGHDAD,
March 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraqi fighters killed
eight British or U.S. soldiers, downed three helicopters and destroyed
more than 30 military vehicles in fierce fighting south and southwest of
An-Nasiriya, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf said
Tuesday, March 25.
Speaking
at a press conference, Sahhaf said that 16 Iraqi civilian had been
killed and 95 others wounded in Anglo-American bombing of Baghdad and
other Iraqi cities since late Monday, March 24, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
The
province of Muthanna, southwest of An-Nasiriya, saw heavy fighting
overnight which lasted until 10:40 am (0740 GMT).
In
the Souk al-Chouyoukh region, south of An-Nasiriya, the ruling Baath
party's fighters, one of them a woman, killed eight occupation troops
and destroyed three vehicles, forcing the invaders to retreat, Sahhaf
said.
In
Baghdad, the latest bombings killed one person and wounded another four,
he added.
In
An-Najaf, in the center of the country, six civilians were killed and 29
others wounded, while eight people were killed and 50 others injured in
Anbar, in the west.
One
person was killed and nine hurt in the northern province of Niniveh, and
three injured in the southern province of Misan.
In
other comments, Sahhaf dismissed as "fabricated lies" U.S.
charges that Baghdad was receiving technical advice from Russian experts
on how to jam British and U.S. military signals.
"We
have no Russian experts in Iraq," Sahhaf said. "We have not
asked any country for assistance of any kind."
Russian
President Vladimir Putin also refuted the U.S. charges in a telephone
conversation with his U.S. counterpart, George W. Bush, the Kremlin said
earlier Tuesday.
Earlier
in the day, Iraqi military spokesman Hazem al-Rawi said an Iraqi carried
out the first suicide attack in the southern region of Fao overnight and
destroyed a tank of the U.S.-British occupation forces.
Iraqis
Dictate Basra Battle
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"Iraqi
fighters killed eight British or U.S. soldiers, downed three
helicopters and destroyed more than 30 military vehicles,"
Sahhaf said
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In
another development, Iraq is reinforcing the southern city of Basra from
the north and fighting there is intensifying, BBC News Online reported
Tuesday.
Iraqi
reinforcements, believed to be a mix of regular troops from the 51st
Division of the Iraqi army and irregular troops, have been sent into
Basra from the north.
BBC’s
correspondent there says British commanders concede that the Iraqis are
dictating the battle plan in Basra, playing their strongest suit by
drawing the British into urban warfare.
Correspondents
say U.K. commanders are contemplating calling in elite paratroopers and
Royal Marine Commandos after hopes of securing the city in a rapid
operation faded.
In
one reported incident, U.K. Royal Scots Dragoon Guards were forced to
retreat about 15 kilometers (10 miles) to avoid a potential ambush by
Iraqi Republican Guards believed to be heading out of Basra for a
surprise attack.
British
military officials, meanwhile, claim that Iraqi fighters are placing
their artillery in the middle of the civilian population.
But
Iraqi officials assert that the occupation forces intentionally targeted
Iraqi civilians, killed nearly 50 civilians during strikes
on the city with cluster bombs at the weekend.
There
have been exchanges of artillery fire and television pictures have shown
buildings inside the city reduced to rubble.
On
Monday, the U.K. Seventh Armored Brigade, the Desert Rats, was involved
in nearly a dozen artillery engagements on the outskirts of Basra,
targeting Iraqi mortars and tanks.
The
United Nations has warned of a potential humanitarian
crisis in Iraq's second city, which is home to 1.5 million people.
Some
100,000 children are at risk of disease as fighting there has continued
for four days, disrupting supplies of drinking water, a U.N. spokesman
said.
Marines
Face Resistance Toward Baghdad
In
the meantime, U.S. Marines marching toward Baghdad encountered heavy
Iraqi resistance Tuesday about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the
Euphrates River, which they had crossed earlier in the day,
correspondents said.
Marines
came under cross fire along a road leading north to the Iraqi capital
and were harassed by mobile Iraqi units, occupation officers said.
The
occupation troops responded with artillery fire and air strikes,
according to an AFP reporter traveling with the Marines.
Up
to 150 light armored vehicles were also called into action to face the
stiff Iraqi resistance.
Earlier
Tuesday a column of about 4,000 Marines managed to cross the Euphrates
River after several days of bloody and costly fighting, which left the
road out of An-Nasiriya littered with the corpses of dead occupation
forces, Iraqi soldiers and burned out vehicles.
