[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 6, 2003, 2000hrs MSK (GMT +4 DST), Moscow -
By the morning of April 6th an uncertain and quickly changing
situation has developed. Coalition divisions are continuing
to advance toward the city outskirts. The 22nd and 15th
expeditionary marine squadrons are trying to break into
the region of military airport “Rashid” from
south-east. Iraqis are holding the line along the Diyala
river and currently the marines cannot capture beach-heads
on the right bank.
A hard situation has formed near the international airport.
The day before yesterday the Iraqi minister of propaganda
claimed that the coalition forces in this region would
have been eliminated by this morning, and the Iraqi command
ordered to storm the airport. At 10am it was attacked by
3 Republican Guards battalions enforced with militia troops.
Americans requested artillery and aviation support. The
battle lasted for almost 6 hours. After several unsuccessful
attacks Iraqis managed to drive Americans back from the
second runway to the airport building. Currently the coalition
forces control the building itself and the new runway bordering
to it. During the day the foes had to increase their strengths
and deploy reinforcements. By the evening up to 2 regular
Iraqi brigades and 2 thousand militiamen were fighting
for the airport. Americans had to use all available forces
of the 3rd Mechanized Division and 101st Airborne Division
to repulse the attacks. Only assault aircraft and battle
helicopters made more than 300 operation flights to this
region.
During the fight Iraqis lost up to 20 tanks, 10 APC, about
200 men killed and up to 300 wounded. The American losses
were up to 30 men killed, about 50 wounded, at least 4
tanks, 4 APC and 1 helicopter. But it is impossible to
obtain the exact data yet. By this hour there have been
more than 20 flights for evacuation of killed and wounded
coalition soldiers and the command have requested ambulance
aviation again.
The combat was so intense that commander of the 3rd Mechanized
Division general-major Bufford Blunt had to issue an order
to organize a false strike. Around 8am from Khan-Azad road
junction an attack was organized in order to demonstrate
tank vanguards of a large subdivision advancing toward
Al-Daura from south. The group was able to reach the outskirts
of the town near the Avajridge village. After entering
the village the group was met by Republican Guards. In
direct combat the group lost 2 tanks, 3 APC, 3 men killed,
up to 10 wounded and, after two hours of fighting, withdrew
to the main forces. Iraqis lost 4 tanks, 2 APC and up to
30 men killed.
By the evening the foes reduced their activity and were
regrouping during the last night. Americans are rapidly
fortifying their defense positions and deploying reinforcements
to the airport region, increasing their forces at Khan-Azad
and Abu-Harraib. Iraqis are moving anti-armor divisions
closer to the city outskirts.
Despite the exchange of strikes there are no reasons to
expect any serious attempts to capture the city in the
nearest future. By numerical strength the coalition troops
that have reached the city borders do not meet even the
minimal requirements for storming and heavy urban fights.
Coalition forces by Baghdad number up to 18-20 thousand
men and can be enforced with no more than 3-5 thousand
men while the minimal force necessary to capture a city
like Baghdad equals from 80 to 100 thousand soldiers.
According to weather forecasts, in the coming day the
weather may abruptly change to the worse. The wind is expected
to intensify, visibility may reduce to 200-300 m.
All the claims made by aviation commander of the coalition,
general Michael Mosley, about “…Iraqi army,
as an organized structure consisting of large units, exists
no longer…” are contrary to fact and, according
to analytics, are probably connected with severe pressure
put on the military command by American financial groups
that desperately needed good news from the US-Iraqi front
by the end of the financial week. In fact, the Republican
Guards defending Baghdad have not lost even 5% of their
numerical strength and military equipment. Most of those
losses were due to bombardments and not land combats. The
total losses of Iraqi army since the beginning of the war
have not exceeded 5-8% of their defensive potential. This
means the main battles are still to be seen.
The situation in other sectors of the US-Iraqi front will
be summarized closer to this evening.
(source: iraqwar.ru, 04-06-03, translated by Necroman)
