The US-led
coalition forces launched pre-dawn air
raids on central Baghdad early on Friday,
with more than ten large explosions heard,
a reporters said.
The new
round of air started at about 2:25 a.m.
local time (22:25 GMT), with coalition
warplanes flying over central Baghdad,
reporters reporter Subhy Haddad said.
Some ten
minutes earlier, a series of huge
explosions were heard south and southwest
of Baghdad. In the meantime, the US forces
and Iraqi troops are still clashing in a
fierce battle at the Saddam International
Airport, which is some 20 km southwest of
Baghdad.
On Thursday
night, the ABC television network of the
United States reported that US forces had
captured the airport, after meeting
skirmishes from the Iraqi side.
Early
Friday morning, the Iraqi authorities used
loudspeakers to call upon Iraqi residents
near the Airport to take up their weapons
to join battle against US forces.
Late
Thursday, the Iraqi military said in a
statement broadcast by Iraqi TV that the
Iraqi troops and militia inflicted
"heavy losses" on the US-led
coalition forces on the day.
The Iraqi
forces and militia destroyed 19 tanks, two
armored vehicles, one F-18 fighter plane
and two Apache helicopters, and killed and
injured several coalition troops, said the
statement.
It added
that on the battlefields in Basra, Karbala
and other areas, the Iraqi troops and
militia successfully fought off attacks
from the US-British coalition troops,
dispiriting the "enemy" forces.
In
another development, Iraqi TV showed the
pictures of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
chairing a cabinet meeting, which was
attended by higher ranking Iraqi officials
including Vice President Taha Yassin
Ramadan and Defense Minister Sultan Hashem
Ahmed. The venue of the meeting was
unknown.
Earlier on
Thursday, in an interview with the
Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV, Iraqi
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf
refuted the US claim that the coalition
forces had made great progress in their
move towards Baghdad, saying that the
Americans and Britons had "no shame
to lie."
He vowed
that Iraq's elite Republican Guard would
"finish up" the coalition forces
in Baghdad.
He also
said that Iraqi forces were in high morale
and still fighting in Basra, Umm Qasr and
Najaf, adding that President Saddam
Hussein had saluted to all the defenders
for their courage.
In
Washington, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman
of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a
Pentagon news briefing on Thursday that
the US forces are "on the
outskirts" of Baghdad as the battle
for the Iraqi capital intensifies.
US
forces seize Saddam International
Airport
US forces
has captured Saddam International
Airport, 20 km from the center of the
Iraqi capital of Baghdad, with almost no
resistance from the Iraqi army, the ABC
television network reported on Thursday.
A
reporter of the ABC network said
"US forces encountered very little
Iraqi resistance, although some units of
the 3rd Infantry Division did encounter
scattered firing by Iraqi foot soldiers
and men in pickups."
Earlier
reports reaching here said US forces
advancing on the Iraqi capital launched
attacks on the airport Thursday evening,
and dozens were killed in the assault.
An
earlier report from Reuters said a
village, which lies between the airport
and Baghdad, was hit by a US rocket
Thursday evening, killing both Iraqi
soldiers and civilians.
The
report said a pile of dead bodies was
seen at one of the four hospitals where
the victims were taken, most of them
appearing to be military, adding more
than 120 people were wounded in the
attack.
Meanwhile,
Iraqi officials put the total death toll
at 83.
In an
earlier live interview aired on the
Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV, Iraqi
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf
refuted the US claim that the coalition
forces had made great progress in their
move towards Baghdad, saying the
Americans and Britons had "no shame
to lie."
He vowed
that Iraq's elite Republican Guard would
"finish up" the coalition
forces in Baghdad.
Britain
says coalition forces make
"remarkable" progress in Iraq
British
Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on
Thursday that coalition forces in Iraq
are making " remarkable
progress" as they move closer to
Iraq's capital city of Baghdad.
The
coalition forces have captured more than
9,000 Iraqi troops, Hoon told the House of
Commons, lower house of the parliament.
"Every
day we have further weakened (Iraqi
President) Saddam Hussein's control over
Iraq and moving another day closer to
ending his appalling regime and liberating
the Iraqi people," Hoon told the
lawmakers.
However,
Hoon denied the assumption that rapid
advances meant military campaign was
entering its closing stages.
On the
coming battle on Baghdad, Hoon said:
"Do not underestimate the task that
still faces our forces or the length of
time that it may take to complete...We are
still very much in the second phase of
steady progress."
Hoon also
said British forces have seized key
suburban areas of Iraq's second largest
city of Basra and will go further into the
city at time of their choosing.
Hoon's
comments came amid speculation that major
coalition ground offensive on Baghdad
would soon begin with an intensive air
bombardment before the main body of troops
stepped forward into the city.
Earlier
reports quoted United States military
spokesman as saying that American troops
had battered through Saddam's forces south
of Baghdad on Thursday and were near the
international airport, about 19 kilometers
(12 miles) from the city center.
However,
Iraq has denied reports that US troops
were closing in on the capital and taking
up positions near its airport. Iraq
accused coalition forces of dropping
cluster bombs on Baghdad.
