UMM QASR (voa) – Coalition forces have been battling Iraqi troops Sunday near the port of Umm Qasr, while in Baghdad, air-raid sirens blared and a new round of explosions rocked the capital.
The latest ground fighting took place in the southern part of the country, at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf, Iraq’s only deep-water port. Coalition forces hope to use Umm Qasr as a major transfer point for humanitarian supplies for the Iraqi population.
U.S. troops gained control of the port’s strategic oil-loading facilities on Friday, but there have been continuing pockets of resistance. Reporters traveling with coalition forces said some of Sunday’s fighting in the area was heavy.
A British warplane was reported missing today after failing to return from an unspecified mission in the Gulf region. A British military spokesman says the jet may have been shot down by accident by Patriot missile.
Meanwhile, Baghdad was rocked by explosions at mid-morning, following a night of air strikes that plunged parts of the city of five-million people into darkness. Most of the latest blasts are said to be on the outskirts of the capital.
Explosions were also reported today around the northern city of Mosul. Despite the fighting in Umm Qasr, U.S. military officials said armored columns have crossed the Euphrates River and seized the town of Nasiriyah, and are now advancing toward Baghdad. A Pentagon spokesman says the troops have covered more than half the distance from Kuwait to Baghdad, and are encountering little resistance.
There are continuing questions about the whereabouts and health of President Saddam Hussein. Iraqi television showed pictures of him Saturday meeting with his aides, but there was no clear indication when or where the recording was made.
A reporter traveling with an American military convoy in central Iraq says four American soldiers died when their vehicles were hit by rocket-propelled grenades during an ambush.
There also are reports that U.S. Patriot interceptor missiles destroyed what is believed to have been an Iraqi missile fired at a U.S. military camp in northern Kuwait.
Iraq Claims Overnight Bombing Caused Civilian Casualties
Iraq says the overnight bombing of Baghdad has resulted in civilian casualties and that Iraqi troops continue to wage fierce battles against coalition forces throughout the country, disputing coalition advances at several places.
Iraq’s information minister says Friday night’s massive bombing of Baghdad resulted in the hospitalization of 207 civilians, whom he said were mostly women and children.
During a news conference Saturday morning in Baghdad, the information minister, Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, acknowledged Baghdad had been hit with hundreds of missiles and bombs that destroyed several government buildings.
He said one of the buildings was a guest house for visiting diplomats and another was a former royal palace near the capital’s international airport.
He also denied coalition claims that coalition forces control the southern port of Umm Qasr and the strategic Faw peninsula. He said fierce battles are continuing to be waged against coalition forces throughout Iraq.
Saturday, British military officials acknowledged that “pockets of resistance” still exist in some parts of Umm Qasr.
He also denied that Iraq’s 51st Division has surrendered. He said the division is still fighting and inflicting what he called the “ugliest losses” against coalition forces, again a claim that has not been confirmed.
Friday, U.S. defense officials said the commander and vice commander of the division had surrendered to marines in the first reported surrender by senior Iraqi military officers.
Mr. Sahhaf also charged that coalition forces had “kidnapped” civilians in and around the southern city of Basra and then claimed they were soldiers as part of a psychological campaign to make people believe coalition forces are winning.
On the streets of Baghdad Saturday, workers were clearing rubble away as smoke still billowed from burning buildings, including the main building of the Republican Palace compound, a symbol of Saddam Hussein’s control on Iraq since 1979.
Workers were also clearing rubble from the building believed to be the headquarters of security services.
Traffic in Baghdad was reported to be lighter than normal, but reporters said it appeared many Iraqis were attempting to go about their business as normally as possible.
