March 22, 2003, 0800hrs MSK
(GMT +3), Moscow - Information received during the last night is
very contradictory. During all day and night fighting continued
around Basra, Al-Nasiriya, and on the Faw (Fao) peninsula.
Despite of numerous reports by the American and British
command about the capture of Umm Qasr the coalition forces
have so far failed to establish full control over this
small borderline town. Exchange of fire in the city is
continuing. Elements of the [Iraqi] 45-th Infantry Brigade,
which is defending the town, are surrounded but continue
to resist and are trying to break out toward Basra.
According to intelligence reports, at Umm Qasr American
and British forces have sustained 10 killed and around
40 wounded soldiers and officers. Additionally, the Iraqis
have destroyed up to 8 British and US armored personnel
carriers.
"Iraqi resistance turned out to be far more determined
than we've expected," the British and US commanders
are reporting. - "They are surrounded but continue
fighting even after losing much of their heavy equipment.
Often we could only advance after completely destroying
them with artillery and aviation."
So far there was no success in trying to clarify the reports
about the capture or surrender of the 51st Infantry Division.
According to intercepted radio communications, this division
was fighting as a part of the 3rd Army Corp (Al-Nasiriya).
It's brigades took up defensive positions along the northwestern
approaches to Basra and participated in combat since the
first day of fighting, which makes their voluntary surrender
unlikely. Analysts believe that the anglo-american coalition
reports refer to a surrender by a capture of one of the
destroyed units or to a successful operation by their special
forces.
Analysis of the video footage of the captured Iraqis,
distributed by the coalition press-service, makes it difficult
to accept the Iraqi army's "moral breakdown" story
advertised by the Americans. Most of the captives retain
their dignity and show no fear or ingratiation characteristic
of demoralized enemy. In addition to that, Americans did
not come up with a single video recording of destroyed
or abandoned combat vehicles or any other equipment, nor
did they provide any interviews with the captured Iraqis.
The US forces have halted their advance into Iraq and
are now actively engaged in reconnaissance along the directions
of Al-Nasiriya, An-Najaf and Al-Ammara. However, the main
efforts of the coalition are being concentrated around
the approaches to Basra. It is expected that by tomorrow
they will build up a strike force to storm the city. Most
major events of the upcoming several days will be unfolding
in this region. Radio intercepts show that up to 25,000
British and American troops are already in the Basra region.
The city is under a constant artillery and aviation bombardment.
During the past night a fuel supply convoy of the US 3rd
Infantry Division was attacked by Iraqi special forces.
Up to 7 fuel trucks have been lost in the attack. Three
US soldiers were killed and nine wounded. Another three
US soldiers are considered MIA and are believed to have
been captured by the Iraqis.
As was expected, after realizing the failure of the coup
against Hussein the US have resorted to intensive bombing
of Baghdad beginning on the evening of March 21st. Just
during that night Baghdad was attacked with 500 cruise
missiles and over 1,000 aviation bombs. The city is engulfed
by numerous fires.
Additionally, more than 20 other Iraqi cities were also
bombed. More than 1,000 cruise missiles were launched against
various targets and over 3,000 bombs were dropped. At the
moment it is difficult to estimate the effectiveness of
these strikes. However, judging by the high activity levels
of Iraqi radio transmitters, the US was unable to disrupt
the control of the Iraqi army.
Russian radio intercept units are certain that at least
one coalition combat plane was shot down in these air raids.
Our sources believe that the high-intensity air strikes
will continue for another 24 hours and after that the coalition
will be forced to scale down the attacks to conduct additional
reconnaissance and to regroup its forces.
A radio intercept made last night at approximately 4:40
am indicated that two British helicopters were shot down
by a "Strela" SAM system after flying into a
SAM trap. It is believed that the two SAR helicopters were
to retrieve the pilot of the combat plane downed during
the earlier air strike. The number of dead and wounded
is still being established. So far the coalition command
did not report these losses. (1)
The coalition commander Gen. Tommy Franks demanded from
the Air Force a maximum possible increase in the close
air support of the ground forces. During a "radio-bridge" with
the commanders of all units Gen. Franks expressed his concern
with the mounting casualties and the stubborn Iraqi resistance. "We've
just spent three days trying to capture one small town,
so we can only guess what awaits us in Baghdad!" -
angrily said the commander and demanded better aviation
support to soften up the defending Iraqi forces ahead of
the advancing coalition units.
For the past day the coalition losses ar up to 30 killed
and around 40 wounded. Ten coalition armored vehicles were
destroyed my land mines. At least two armored vehicles
were destroyed by anti-tank weapons.
Iraqi losses are estimated in the range of 250-300 killed
and up to 500 wounded. So far it is not possible to determine
the damage from the night bombing raids. However, more
than 500 people have been taken to hospitals in Baghdad
- all of them were civilians.
Update:
While this article was translated the US Navy has confirmed
that two British Sea Knight helicopters of the Royal Navy
have crashed killing all onboard - 6 Britons and 1 American
- a US Navy officer. The helicopters crashed at around
4:30 am. The official explanation for the loss was that
the two helicopters crashed into each other while taking-off
from a ship. It is interesting to note that during more
than 25 years in British service there wasn't a single
collision between the Sea Knights. The Royal Navy operates
more than 300 Sea Knights and all helicopter pilots adhere
to strict sets of rules during take-offs and landings from
ships; rules that are designed to help pilots to avoid
this type of collisions.
(source: iraqwar.ru, 03-22-03, translated by Venik)
