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| Iraq |
| Heavy clashes between coalition and Iraqi forces near Baghdad airport |
| 2003-04-05 |
| IRNA -- Heavy clashes between US and Iraqi forces are taking place in the outskirts of Saddam International Airport, the Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported. It quoted a US military spokesman as saying that the American forces have taken near total control of the airport which they have renamed Baghdad International Airport. Al-Jazeera reported that occupation of the airport Thursday is one of the crucial achievements of coalition forces in the current war as it may soon be used as a a platform for staging attacks to capture Baghdad. According to the channel, the US forces consider their capture of the airport as a brilliant achievement because it would deter Iraqi leaders from trying to escape the war by using airplanes. US forces have reportedly been ordered to shoot the wheels of a commercial passenger plane currently inside one of the hangars of the airport. I hardly think that's necessary... Iraq, through its information minister, continues to deny that the airport is now totally in the hands of coalition forces. Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf warned the invaders during a press briefing Friday that "non-conventional acts" would be launched overnight, which the US military has interpreted to possibly mean the use of chemical or biological weapons or huge numbers of Iraqis as human shields. That was yesterday. Nothing happened. I guess that was "non-conventional"... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 I think "non-conventional" might be a bad translationm of the original arabic. I think he said "pathetic and utterly ineffective". |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-04-05 10:52:32 |