[The following translation of the iraqwar.ru report has
been kindly provided by "Necroman". You can find the original
report in Russian as well as this translation on the iraqwar.ru site. Venik]
April 5, 2003, 1357hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow -
The situation on the US-Iraqi front is characterized
by gradual reduction of American offensive activity. After
the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division tank forces had
marched
towards Baghdad and its vanguards reached the city from
south and south-west, engineering fortification of their
positions began, which indicates the end of the current
stage of the campaign as well as the loss of offensive
potential of American forces and necessity to rest and
regroup. It is supposed that during the next two days
the American command will attempt local strikes in order
to
improve and extend their positions on the south and,
especially, south-west approaches to Baghdad (crossing
the Baghdad – Samarra
roadway) and begin bringing fresh forces from Kuwait.
As we supposed, during the last night Americans were moving
101st Airborne Division troops to help the 1st Mechanized
Division that captured the airport of Baghdad yesterday
morning. About 80 strike and transport helicopters and
500 marines were deployed there.
But all the efforts to reinforce the brigade with heavy
armor failed as Iraqi started powerful artillery strikes
at the transport routes and organized mobile firing groups
on the roads. After reports about losing 3 tanks and 5
APCs on the route the American command had to pause the
movement of the reinforcements by land.
Yesterday’s estimates of the forces concentrated
here were overstated. After analysis of intercepted radio
communications and reports of American commanders it was
specified that at the airport there were only parts of
the 1st brigade troops, up to 2 enforced battalions with
the help of a self-propelled artillery division 3 thousand
soldiers and officers strong, 60 tanks and about 20 guns.
Another battalion enforced with artillery crossed the
Baghdad-Amman roadway and came into position at the crossroads
to the south of the airport, near Abu-Harraib.
Soldiers of the 1st Mechanized Brigade spent almost all
the last night in chemical protection suits, waiting for
Iraqi to use their “untraditional weapons”.
Apart from that, their positions were constantly shot with
artillery and machine gun fire. The brigade commanders
report that the soldiers are ultimately dead-beat, and
are constantly requesting reinforcements.
About 10 armored units including 4 tanks were lost in
this area yesterday. Up to 9 men were killed, about 20
wounded, at least 25 reported missing. Moreover, the status
of a patrol group that didn’t arrive at the airport
remains unclear. It is supposed that it either moved away
towards Khan-Azad and took defense there or got under an
ambush and was eliminated. It is now being searched for.
The losses of Iraqi were up to 40 men killed, about 200
captured (including the airport technical personnel), 4
guns and 3 tanks.
Currently American reconnaissance squadrons are trying
to dissect the suburban defenses with local sallies.
At the same time, marine troops are approaching the south-east
borders of Baghdad. Their vanguard units reached the outskirts
of Al-Jessir and immediately tried to capture the bridge
over a feeder of the Tigris, the Divala river, but were
met with fire and stopped.
Commander of the 1st Expeditionary Marine Squadron colonel
Joe Dowdy was deposed yesterday morning. As was revealed,
the colonel was deposed “…for utmost hesitation
and loss of the initiative during the storm of An-Nasiriya…”.
This way the coalition command in Qatar found an excuse
for their military faults by that town. The “guilt” of
the colonel was in his refusing to enter the town for almost
3 days and trying to suppress Iraqi resistance with artillery
and aviation, trying to avoid losses. As a result, the
command additionally had to move the 15th squadron of colonel
Tomas Worldhouser there, who had to storm the ferriages
for almost 6 days, with about 20 of his soldiers killed,
130 wounded and 4 missing. The 1st Expeditionary Squadron
lost no men at An-Nasiriya, but 3 marines died, as were
reported, “by inadvertency” and about 20 soldiers
got wounded.
Despite the fact that marines were able to capture one
of the bridges at the south outskirt of An-Nasiriya, the
ferriage across the Euphrates is still risky. Fights in
the city are going on. The American command has to cover
the ferriage with a company of marines enforced with tanks
and artillery, up to 400 soldiers and officers strong.
Every column passing across the bridge gets shot by Iraqis
from the left bank and the marines have to cover it by
setting smoke screens and delivering constant fire. A brigade
group of the 101st Airborne Division is engaged in the
combat but is unable to break the Iraqi resistance. Throughout
the day 3 men were wounded, 1 soldier reported missing.
In An-Najaf, after 3 days of gunning and bombardment the
101st Airborne Division marines were able to advance towards
the center of the town and are now fighting in the market
region.
It is reported that 2 marines were killed and 4 wounded.
1 APC was destroyed with a RPG. At the same time there
arrived information that during the last night most of
the garrison (up to 3 thousand Republican Guardians of
the “Medina” Division) left the town on cars
for Karbala. Only militia remained in the town, covering
the withdrawing main forces and continuing to resist.
All the attempts of American marines to advance into Al-Khindiya
failed. After 1 APC from the vanguard was knocked out and
more than 20 RPG shots at the column, the marines withdrew
at their original positions. 2 soldiers were wounded and
evacuated rearwards. American intelligence believes that
no more than a battalion of Iraqis are defending the town.
Their resistance remains, despite that the town has already
been under siege for 8 days.
Americans were unable to capture the left-bank part of
Al-Hillah. The 82nd Airborne Division troops are only capable
of keeping a narrow “corridor” – across
the outskirt of Al-Hillah with the bridge over the Euphrates.
There is constant shooting in the town. Throughout the
day in this region the coalition lost 1 men killed and
4 wounded.
A similar “corridor” is kept by marines in
the Al-Kut town. But there is information that allows us
to suppose that Americans were pushed away from the town
last night. Continuous requests of artillery and aviation
support and coordinates transmitted to the artillery HQ
indicate that the combat occurred in immediate proximity
to the American positions. 4 times ambulance helicopters
flew into this region, and there hasn’t still been
a report from the commander of the marine group that defends
this area, which may indicate that he hasn’t yet
have full information about his units.
The situation at Al-Diwaniyah, where a heavy combat has
been going on for 3 days, has become a little clearer.
Currently all American forces have been pushed away from
the town. Early morning an American helicopter was attacked.
Its crew died. Another helicopter was shot down and had
to land to the east from Karbala. Information about its
crew is being obtained.
The overall situation in the central region of Iraq is
characterized by gradual reduction of the coalition activity
and change to active defense. But extraordinary dispersion
of the ground forces, their fragmentation (the biggest
group now contains up to 12 thousand troops) create advantageous
preconditions for Iraqi counter-attacks, but the air superiority
of the coalition severely complicate such projects. If,
due to weather conditions, the coalition forces lose their
air support, it may have very dramatic consequences.
At the south of Iraq the British advance on Basra is losing
its strength as well and may already stop during the next
two days. Currently the British have been unable to achieve
any serious success on this direction, and fights are only
occur at the outskirts of the city.
The British command had to admit that it had underestimated
the strength of Iraqi resistance and was unable to reveal
the structure and number of Basra defenders fully and operatively.
Currently in the city and the Fao peninsula, according
to the British data, about 5 thousand of regular Iraqi
military forces are defending (parts of 51st Mechanized
Division of general Khaled Khatim Saleh al-Hashimi) and
up to 5-7 thousand volunteers and militiamen. At the same
time, British hopes for an armed Shia revolt have been
ruined. The Shia leaders in Iran called their Iraqi coreligionists
to fight against English and American “satanists” and “Zionists”,
leaving British without their “best card” in
the plan of capturing Basra. 3 men were killed and 8 wounded
yesterday.
At the North of Iraq desultory fightings between Kurdish
troops “peshmerga” and Iraqi forces are going
on. The morning messages about the town Kalak captured
have not been confirmed yet, and according to the radio
surveillance data the actions only take place at the approaches
of the town. For now, Kurds are mainly busy robbing neighboring
villages and transporting the stolen goods into their basic
regions. According to American special forces which have
recently been replaced here, sometimes after capturing
a village up to half of the Kurdish squadron abandon their
positions. They load stolen property into captured cars
and leave for their homes to be back next morning for new
salvage.
But apart from clear marauding of “peshmerga”,
the coalition command has more and more problems with keeping
the decent moral level of their fighting soldiers. Spite
and irritability are growing even in British troops, which
were always “correct enough” towards the civilians
on the occupied territories. In increasing frequency British
soldiers show violence and rudeness towards civilians.
At a recent consultation at the British HQ, a representative
of the military police command pointed at the fact that
even actions of arresting people suspected in underground
activities occur with unnecessary violence and publicity,
and resemble rather intimidation than special police operations.
The command issued a special order regarding the required
behavior in the occupied regions, but even after it had
been published a few analogous incidents were registered.
An event that had happened 5 days before also received
publicity at the coalition HQ. During a night “cleanup” in
one of suburban houses near An-Nasiriya three marines shot
a man and afterwards raped and shot his wife. The command
got information about this accident from one of its informers.
After interrogation the marines were sent to Qatar for
additional investigations.
In increasing frequency commanders find things belonging
to Iraqis in their soldiers’ rucksacks. The soldiers
are discontent of their commanders attempting to cease
this practice, and call those items “war salvage”.
Currently the command is preparing a special order regarding
this issue.
(source: iraqwar.ru, 04-05-03, translated by Necroman)
