Sandstorms slow troops

In southern Iraq, US Marines finally punched past Iraqi resistance to cross the Euphrates river at Nassiriya. But they met a fresh ambush on the road north, despite an air strike that killed at least 30 Iraqis apparently heading into battle.

(Late tonight, the BBC, quoting British military intelligence, reported that Basra had come under attack from British troops after Iraqi troops holed inside the city tried to crush a civilian uprising.)

And in the far south, British and US commanders said they had finally snuffed out resistance by Iraqi gunmen in the deep-water port of Umm Qasr, which could now be opened to aid supplies for the hungry and thirsty local population.

But as the battle front moved closer to Baghdad, main prize in the campaign, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers said: ‘‘We think the toughest fighting is ahead of us.’’

Waves of air raids hit Baghdad’s outer defences, sending shock waves from distant blasts thudding into the city.

‘‘It’s a really heavy attack,’’ Reuters correspondent Nadim Ladki said. ‘‘Even though the explosions are quite far away, they are shaking buildings in the centre of the city.’’

The Medina Division of Republican Guards stands between Baghdad and US armoured columns that have thrust to the Karbala area, 95 km south of the capital.

‘‘The Medina division is now under heavy air attack although poor weather will hamper this,’’ British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London. ‘‘In the five days since military action began, a huge amount has already been achieved.’’

A senior Pentagon source said he could not confirm US media reports that Iraqi leaders had drawn a ‘‘red line’’ around Baghdad within which Republican Guards had been authorised to use chemical weapons. Iraq denies that it has such weapons.

But in Washington, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the intelligence information he had received indicated that the Iraqi military may use chemical weapons against invasion forces as they close in on Baghdad.

During a Pentagon briefing, Rumsfeld said he received intelligence information ‘‘that suggests that the closer that coalition forces get to Baghdad and Tikrit, the greater the likelihood (of the use of chemical weapons), and that some command and control arrangements have been put in place.’’

US and British forces have met stronger resistance than expected. ‘‘Their dreams of a short and easy war have started to evaporate and their hopes of defeating the Iraqi people are being destroyed,’’ an Iraqi military spokeman said.

Saddam urged Iraqi tribesmen to join the battle against US and British forces, without waiting for further orders. ‘‘The enemy has violated your lands and now they are violating your tribes and families,’’ the Iraqi leader said in a statement read on his behalf on state television.

US forces said they had destroyed a downed Apache attack helicopter to prevent the Iraqis from seizing any of the sophisticated targetting equipment and weapons aboard.

It was lost during an attack by several dozen helicopters on Republican Guards near Karbala. The two pilots were captured by Iraqi forces and shown on Iraqi television. (Reuters)