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20 miles from Baghdad
U.S. troops advanced to within 20 miles of Baghdad Wednesday in a multi-front assault that the coalition said destroyed much of the Iraqi capital's defensive force. Army units from the 3rd Infantry Division pushed past the city of Karbala after heavy fighting overnight and moved through fertile agricultural hinterlands to a point about 19 miles outside the city. Marines advancing from the southeast "destroyed" the Republican Guard's Baghdad Division near the town of Al Kut, Brooks said. They then crossed the Tigris River, 60 miles from Baghdad, and advanced to within 25 miles. The Marine vanguard found defensive positions abandoned, the ground littered with Iraqi military uniforms. There was no incoming artillery, and the light resistance raised commanders' fears of potential chemical weapons attacks. 19 miles... Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-04-02 |
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