(Washington Post) U.S. troops estimated they killed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers and irregulars who mounted a counterattack Tuesday in Baghdad, racing over several bridges across the Tigris in about 50 buses, trucks, and armored vehicles. U.S. airstrikes destroyed a number of the vehicles, but most made it across the river before being beaten back by heavily armored tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, said Col. David Perkins of the 3rd Infantry Division. Pentagon officials said a U.S. A-10 plane appears to have been shot down by a French-made Roland surface-to-air missile. Iraqi government television remained off the air, although Iraqi radio continues to broadcast. With Hussein loyalists mixing civilian and uniformed fighters, soldiers manning the U.S. positions in Baghdad were having a hard time separating hard-core enemies from civilian bystanders.
2003-04-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive