[This story was updated on 03.26.03 at 9:51 p.m. ET.]
The conflict in Iraq intensified on Wednesday, as both coalition and enemy forces launched bold strategic operations, including one of American's largest airborne infantry maneuvers in decades.
Late on day eight of Operation Iraqi Freedom, about 1,000 U.S. paratroopers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade landed in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, most likely to open another front into Baghdad.
And in Iraq's capital city, the U.S. continued to bomb command centers, with at least 10 explosions witnessed early Thursday local time, according to CNN.
Allied forces also fought one of fiercest ground battles yet near the southern city of Najaf for control of a bridge over the Euphrates River, according to Reuters. Units from the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment engaged Iraqi troops outside the city, where more than 500 Iraqis were killed, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. lost two tanks but reportedly suffered no casualties.
In other battles, U.S. warplanes attacked a convoy of Iraqi armored vehicles leaving Basra under cover of sandstorms late Wednesday and began attacking the strategic cities of Mosul, Kirkuk and Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's northern Iraq hometown and the center for most of his inner circle.
As for Hussein's regime, soldiers in Baghdad and other cities continued to surprise coalition forces with strong opposition. Most notably, a convoy of at least 1,000 vehicles, possibly a division of the Republican Guard, is reported to be heading south from the capital toward U.S. soldiers positioned near Nasiriya. The U.S. Central Command, however, claimed there was no significant movement of rival troops, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was only aware of minor "defensive repositioning."
Intense firefights with Iraqi soldiers also took place Wednesday in and around Umm Qasr, Nasiriya and Basra.
One senior U.S. official told CNN that "I think we underestimated" the Iraqi fighters, particularly the Saddam Fedayeen, a paramilitary group classified as a domestic security organization that takes orders directly from Hussein's son Uday. The units, believed to be between 30,000- and 60,000-strong, according to Fox News, have a reputation for torture and tactics such as phony surrenders and disguising themselves as civilians or U.S. troops, actions U.S. officials say are in "serious violations of the laws of war."
President Bush, during a trip to the Florida headquarters of U.S. Central Command, admitted that "this war is far from over" but promised, "There will be a day of reckoning for the Iraqi regime, and that day is drawing near." Bush also said allied forces "have taken control of hundreds of square miles of territory to prevent the launch of missiles and chemical or biological weapons."
In a shift of strategy, coalition forces plan to devote more resources to fighting Iraq's paramilitary commandos operating in the cities south of Baghdad, Pentagon sources told The New York Times. It could delay the eventual ground assault on Baghdad, but only for a matter of days, not weeks, according to the Pentagon.
A longer war is also expected by the American public. According to a New York Times/CBS News poll, the number of people who foresee a quick and successful military effort in Iraq dropped to 43 percent on Monday night, from 62 percent on Saturday.
American's 4th Infantry Division, one of the most high-tech forces in the military, and other units numbering more than 30,000 troops have been deployed to the Persian Gulf as reinforcements.
Elsewhere, Iraqi officials claimed Wednesday that 15 civilians were killed in Baghdad's Al-Shaab market district, though the Pentagon couldn't confirm the deaths. In a press conference, Major Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the district was not a target but that "something landed [in the area], but we don't know whether it was U.S. or Iraqi." He offered as a possible explanation that Iraqi anti-aircraft ammunition or missiles were fired from nearby, missed their targets and then fell back down to land in the area.
British troops announced that they plan to change tactics and seize control of Basra, in an attempt to avert a massive humanitarian crisis there. Large portions of the city — Iraq's second largest with a population of 1.3 million — have been without power and water for as many as five days.
And in the port city of Umm Qasr, humanitarian relief has begun to flow in, including at least seven battered transport trucks carrying about 12 tons of food, medical supplies and other goods, according to CNN.
Previous efforts to supply humanitarian aid to Umm Qasr and Basra had been hampered by sporadic attacks from Iraqi forces. The U.N. has said that the U.S. holds primary responsibility for providing humanitarian aid to Iraq and that the aid being planned for Iraq may be the largest humanitarian effort in history.
Other developments:
