IRAQ: U.S.-LED FORCES LAUNCH DAY-TIME AIR ATTACK ON IRAQI FRONTLINE TROOPS IN MOSUL

Record ID: 355655

  • Title: IRAQ: U.S.-LED FORCES LAUNCH DAY-TIME AIR ATTACK ON IRAQI FRONTLINE TROOPS IN MOSUL
  • Date: 23rd March 2003
  • Summary: MOSUL, NORTHERN IRAQ MARCH 23, 2003 (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF THE AREA 0.06 2. SCU: KURDISH MILITIA WITH BINOCULARS 0.12 3. TILT: SKY WITH B-52 BOMBER APPEARING 0.14 4. VARIOUS OF EXPLOSIONS, BOMBS HITTING GROUND (3 SHOTS) 0.46 5. SCU: KURDISH MILITIA ON THE FRONTLINE WATCHING THE BOMBS EXPLODE 0.51 6. WIDE OF AREA 0.56
  • Embargoed: 7th April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSUL, NORTHERN IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVADI61QPFUTKT299TAQBJ7M0XSE
  • Story Text: In what appeared to be the first day-time air strike on
    Iraqi frontline troops, Mosul, near the frontline with
    Kurdish-held northern Iraq, came under attack from the air on
    Sunday.


    The Iraqi Kurdish group running part of northern Iraq
    says U.S. forces launched a second day of missile strikes
    there against Ansar al-Islam positions near the Iranian
    border.

    Washington said on Sunday (March 23) some U.S. soldiers
    and an aircraft were believed missing, after Baghdad said it
    had downed five planes and two helicopters and would show
    prisoners on television.

    President Saddam Hussein's capital suffered a fourth day
    of bombardment, with some of the biggest blasts to date, as
    planes pounded a single target in the west.

    Correspondents with U.S. and British units reported
    persistent clashes - near Umm Qasr, on Iraq's narrow south
    coast, Basra, the second city nearby, the Shi'ite holy city of
    Najaf and Nassiriya where the Euphrates river has been
    crossed.

    Iraq said the human toll was already significant, with 77
    civilians killed in Basra, mostly victims of cluster bombs,
    and air raids killing four in Tikrit, Saddam's home town.

    But in briefings, U.S. and British spokesmen oozed
    confidence, saying the campaign was going faster than planned.

    One British defence source even predicted the battle of
    Baghdad could begin in as little as 36 hours.

    The United States said some 1,600 British and U.S.

    aircraft had flown nearly 6,000 sorties since the war began
    four days ago, hitting military and leadership targets and
    sites with suspected weapons of mass destruction.

    (jd/


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register