Fierce clashes erupt in key cities
Cilina Nasser
US forces said they had accelerated their advance on the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, staging ground attacks on three fronts against Iraqi fighters trying to prevent them from approaching Baghdad.
Fierce clashes erupted in Iraq's southern cities of Karbala and Najaf and the key crossing over the Tigris River near Kut as contradictory statements were made by US and Iraqi officials regarding their successes in these battles.
The US forces said they encircled Najaf and swept past Karbala and were heading for the Euphrates river just 80 km from Baghdad, prompting Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said Sahaf to call the claims "lies."
"They lie every day. Therefore what they say or allege about success and advances in Najaf and Karbala are more of the same," he said.
"I have detailed information about the situation...which completely proves that what they allege are illusions," he told a news conference.
The US troops also said they seized a bridge over the Tigris river, allowing them to control a highway between Kut, 170 km southeast of the Iraqi capital, and Baghdad.
But Sahaf denied the claims, saying: "They also said they crossed the Tigris, which is another lie along with what they said about Kut."
On the other hand, a US spokesman at the Central Command in Qatar described the battles in Karbala and Kut as "the most significant battles to date."
The clashes came after US troops halted their push for Baghdad for several days to reinforce vulnerable supply lines extending to Kuwait. Asked if an assault on the Iraqi capital was now imminent, one US defence official said: "Imminent would imply that it's going to happen today. That's not necessarily true. It's imminent when we determine we want to go into Baghdad."
But a military and strategy researcher said that US-led forces would continue to encounter attacks if they move to the Iraqi capital without securing the southern cities.
Al-Hayssam Al-Ayoubi, who works for the Paris-based Center for Philosophical Strategy, said that the unexpected tough resistance which the US-led forces faced in the southern cities made them decide not to enter them and to head directly to Baghdad.
"If the invading forces decided to bypass the southern Iraqi cities in their push to reach Baghdad without effectively controlling them, they would risk being attacked in these areas from fighters based there," he said.
Such a decision could have worked out, al-Ayoubi said, as long as they have enough troops so that one division could besiege the cities and protect their rear and another would advance to the Iraqi capital."
"They realized that they have to protect their rear which is why they will bring to the region additional troops later this month," he said referring to the Pentagon's decision to send some 100,000 additional troops to help in the combat.
Helicopters and warplanes bombed targets in Najaf which US officials said were areas in which the Fedayeen Saddam fighters were active. "We are going to destroy them," said Lieutenant Colonel Chris Holden of the 101st Airborne.
A Reuters correspondent reported seeing columns of smoke rise above Najaf after British aircraft struck the ruling Baath Party headquarters there.
US and Iraqi officials have traded accusations, each side claiming the other failed to respect one of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims, the burial shrine of Imam Ali, as they fought in the city.
A US spokesman accused Iraqi forces in the city of firing from the shrine of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed and a leader of the Islamic Ummah after the Prophet's death. He said the Americans did not return fire.
For his part, Sahaf said that Iraqi forces fought off a US attack on Najaf, accusing them of using low flying planes to shake the sacred sites.
"After we repelled them to the desert, they hit the mosques. It is obvious they are doing this to destroy these shrines," Sahaf said.
In Tehran, a spokesman for the Iranian-based Iraqi opposition - the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - said that if the report of using the shrine to shoot on US forces was true, it should be condemned.
"Saddam's regime is taking advantage of the holy sites to achieve its evil goals, and this is always to be condemned," said the spokesman.
In the meantime, British troops continued their siege of the southern city of Basra, shelling areas which they said were Iraqi positions. They also increased the number of checkpoints in a bid to clamp down on the inflow of weapons.
At least four US shells struck the Sheraton Hotel in Basra where the only checked-in guests are Al-Jazeera's correspondents. The Doha-based channel urged the US on Wednesday to ensure the safety of its correspondents, the only international journalists reporting from the besieged city.
"Journalists in this city are not part of this conflict," said Abdel-Haq Saddah, one of our correspondents in Basra. "They are just covering what's happening, that's all," he continued.
He said he could not know whether the attack was deliberate or an attack gone stray. The hotel was hit and damaged by at least four shells launched by US artillery. "Due to this latest development, Al-Jazeera Channel will be sending yet another letter to the Pentagon stressing the station's concern for the safety and security of its reporters in Iraq," stressed a statement issued by the channel.
"The news network has officially advised the Pentagon in Washington of all relevant details pertaining to its reporters covering the war on Iraq," it added. --- Al Jazeera