American troops are six miles away from Baghdad and explosions have been heard coming from the city's airport, reports say. Reuters reported that advance units from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division are near the south west outskirts of the city. A series of explosions has been heard coming from the nearby Saddam Hussein International Airport. Reuters reported more than one explosion a minute coming from the direction of the airport as warplanes flew overhead. "It looks like they are using big bombs, they are really causing a shudder," a reporter in the city said. "They are distant but loud and still reverberating around the city. These are their powerful bombs."
US officials earlier said American forces were preparing to take the airport. US military spokesman Captain Frank Thorpe said troops outside the airport and "are positioning themselves to engage that fight at a time of our choice". The officer, at the US Central Command in Qatar, said the feared last stand by tens of thousands of Republican Guard troops south of the city did not materialize. But he said elements of four Iraqi Republican Guard divisions were confronting advancing troops. "We are engaging them, but we don't yet have any direct confrontation with the Republican Guard divisions as a whole." Captain Thorpe added: "We are getting closer and closer to Baghdad. When we decide to go into Baghdad, we will be in Baghdad within a matter of hours from when we decide to go."
A US military spokesman told Sky's Geoff Meade, in Qatar, that troops were "knocking on the door of Baghdad". Reports said troops advancing on the Iraqi capital from the south west had encountered pockets of resistance. One attack on US forces was caught live on television. Cameras showed a smouldering US tank that was believed to have been hit by a missile. A number of burnt out Iraqi targets that had been destroyed were also seen littering the roadside.
A "massive" convoy of US Marines was meanwhile approaching from the south east, Reuters said. Troops using howitzers lanched a "relentless" attack on Iraqi positions near the town of Numaniyah, around 70 miles from Baghdad, Reuters reported. |