April 1, 2003, 1404hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow -
As of the morning of April 1 active combat operations continued
along the entire US-Iraqi front.
The town of Karabela – one of the key points in
the Iraqi defense – is subjected to a continuing
artillery barrage. The town outskirts are being attacked
by the coalition aviation. However, so far the US forces
made no attempts to enter the town. Available information
suggests that after evaluating Karabela’s defenses
the US command made a decision to delay storming the town.
Orders were issued to the coalition troops to move around
the town from the east and to take control of the strategic
Al-Hillah, Al-Khindiya, and Al-Iskanderiya region. Several
largest highways are intersecting in this area, which also
contains the three strategic bridges across the Euphrates.
Gaining control of this “triangle” will finally
open the way for the coalition troops into the valley between
the Tigris and the Euphrates and the route to the Babylon-Baghdad
highway. Yesterday and today early morning most heated
combat continued in this area.
During a night attack the US forces were able to reach
the center of Al-Khindiya by 0800hrs and to move to the
right bank of the Euphrates. However, their further advance
was stopped by heavy fire from the Iraqi positions across
the river. Al-Khindiya is being defended by up to 2,000
Iraqi soldiers and militia armed with up to 20 tanks and
around 250 anti-tank weapons of various types. During this
battle one US soldier was killed, 2 were missing in action
and seven were wounded. For now it is impossible to determine
the Iraqi losses. Throughout the night the US field commanders
have reported at least 100 killed and 30 captured Iraqi
soldiers and militia members. However, by morning the number
of captured was revised down to less than 15.
The [coalition] effort to capture Al-Hillah was unsuccessful.
All attempts by the US troops to enter the town during
the night have failed. Every time they were met with heavy
Iraqi fire near the town. Intercepted radio communications
show that one US APC was destroyed and at least 5 soldiers
were killed and wounded.
Fighting is continuing near An-Najaf. The town is currently
surrounded from three sides by the US Marines, who are
still unable to enter the town. The Iraqi positions are
being subjected to artillery and aerial bombardment. No
information is available about any losses in this area.
Since 0700hrs reports are coming about large-scale attacks
by the US Marines and infantry units against An-Nasiriya.
As was previously expected, up to two Marine battalions
deployed on the left bank of the river to the north of
the town have begun advancing on An-Nasiriya from the north
and are now trying to break the Iraqi defenses and to capture
this strategic town. More than a hundred of aerial strikes
have been delivered against the Iraqi positions [at An-Nasiriya]
just during today’s morning. There is a continuing
artillery barrage. All this indicates the US Marines are
determined to fulfill their orders and take the town. However,
so far neither Marines nor the paratroopers were able to
widen their staging area or to break through Iraqi defenses.
Radio surveillance indicates that during the morning hours
of today there were 5 medevac helicopter flights to this
area. At least 3 US soldiers were killed.
Another US combat convoy crossed to the left bank of the
Euphrates and by today’s morning reached the outskirts
of the town of Ash-Shatra located 40 kilometers north of
An-Nasiriya. This unit is now engaged in combat. For now
there is no additional information about this convoy’s
losses or movements.
Localized fighting is continuing near Basra. Throughout
the last night and today’s early morning the British
forces were making attempt to capture the neighboring villages
of As-Zubair and Suk-al-Shujuh, but, despite of overwhelming
artillery and aviation support, the British were forced
to return to their original positions. During these battles
1 British soldier was killed, 1 is missing and up to 5
were wounded. No information is available about the Iraqi
losses. According to the reports by the British, at least
200 Iraqi troops were killed and no less than 50 were captured.
However, only under 10 captured Iraqis were delivered to
the British camp and only 4 of them were in military uniform.
This was reported by one of the US journalist located in
this area during a phone conversation with the editor.
Active combat reconnaissance operations by both sides
are continuing in the north of Iraq. There have been reports
of an attack launched by an Iraqi battalion against the
positions of a US combat unit from the 82nd Airborne Division.
It was reported that during the night the Iraqis moved
around the US position and in the morning attacked the
US forces from the rear. A fierce exchange of fire is continuing
in this area. The US forces have requested aviation support.
The combat activity of the Kurds supported by the US forces
was limited to clearing several areas occupied by its long-time
enemy – the militant Islamic group called “Ansar
al Islam”, after which the Kurdish units have stopped.
Amid calls by the US military for a continuing offensive
the Kurdish troops appear to be in no rush to engage the
regular troops of the Iraqi army and are more interested
in reaping the spoils of war. The Kurdish leadership is
not particularly interested in “leading” the
advancing forces. Instead they are calling on the US to
strengthen the US forces deployed in this area. With at
least another 2,000 paratroopers and to “bomb the
Iraqis some more.” This indicates that the Kurds
are not willing to move their forces too far from the home
bases fearing an attack in the back by the Turkish troops.
Their fears are reinforced by the continuing assurances
by the US to respect Turkey’s territorial integrity.
The term “territorial integrity” in this case
covers almost 40% of the territory of the current Northern
Kurdistan, which has the de facto independence from Turkey
and Iraq. It is likely that the Kurdish forces will move
forward only after the complete military defeat of the
Iraqis, when their desire for the war booty will make them
less cautious.
Analysis of the present state of the US-British coalition
fighting in Iraq suggests that the current active combat
phase will last for about 4-5 days. After that the troops
will once again require time for rest, repairs and reinforcement.
Most analysts believe that this time the coalition will
require more downtime than the last time, when it stopped
for just long enough to get resupplied and immediately
continued their advance so not to lose the initiative and
not to let the enemy come to their senses. The price of
putting this “squeeze” on the troops is enormous
exhaustion and extensive wear of equipment, which is long
overdue for serious scheduled maintenance.
At the same time the fresh forces arriving in Kuwait from
Europe and the US will not be able to join the combat before
Monday April 7 as deployment of troops is progressing with
many delays and is poorly organized. The units that already
arrived [in Kuwait] cannot get to their weapons and the
weapons already delivered here are sitting here without
the troops to which they are assigned.
Because of this the coalition command has ordered the
attacking forces to be as aggressive as they can be to
use this short time to break the Iraqi defenses along the
entire line of the front. The troops are ordered by the
end of this operation to advance to the starting positions
for the final assault on Baghdad and to begin preparing
to take the Iraqi capital. This order is specifically referring
to the importance of An-Nasiriya, An-Najaf and the Karabela – Al-Hillah– Al-Iskanderiya “triangle”.
These areas will see the most combat action in the upcoming
days.
Additionally, we should expect elements of the coalition
forces reaching the Amman-Baghdad highway, currently controlled
only by small US paratroop and special operations units
and to form here in the area of Al-Khabbania the western
side of Baghdad’s blockade. The Al-Khabbania region
also contains three strategic airfields and large stores
of weapons causing serious concern on the part of the coalition.
(source: iraqwar.ru, 04-01-03, translated by Venik)
