KARBALA, 6 April 2003 — US troops fought street-to-street with paramilitaries in the central Iraqi city of Karbala yesterday in a fierce assault aimed at protecting supply lines of US forces moving into Baghdad.
US officers said the American troops had killed about 75 Fedayeen paramilitaries loyal to President Saddam Hussein and said six or seven US soldiers had been wounded in the battle. Others had slight burns but continued to fight.
The Iraqi fighters took up positions on rooftops in the narrow streets of this Shiite holy city, firing rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles. US planes unleashed laser-guided bombs, artillery and heavy arms fire. “It’s freaky in there. Lots of bullets flying around. It’s pretty scary,” said one young US soldier who was evacuated after being hit by fragments from a hand grenade.
The fighting raged all afternoon yesterday as the US forces progressed slowly toward the city’s center. It flared again in the evening. Helicopters continued buzzing overhead looking for Iraqi fighters and the US soldiers dug in for the night.
“They gave us a pretty good fight. It wasn’t that well organized — they were spread out all over the place — but they really went at it,” another soldier said.
American forces attacked Karbala as advance US forces pushed into Baghdad, 110 km to the north, on the 17th day of a war to overthrow Saddam.
It followed a similar US sweep two days earlier through Najaf, another holy Shiite Muslim city in central Iraq, to root out paramilitaries and other fighters loyal to Saddam who could threaten long US supply lines stretching up from the south.
Lt. Col. Chris Holden said US forces could not make a sustained push into Baghdad until the cities around capital were secured.
“It would have to be raids and destruction missions, but it couldn’t be long-term effective as long as Karbala and other towns can serve as a Fedayeen base to attack our forces,” said Holden, a battalion commander of the 101st Airborne.
Troops from the “Screaming Eagles” 101st Airborne Division landed in helicopters on the western edge of Karbala, moving in beside a tank battalion with Apache attack helicopters overhead.
Iraqis offered tough resistance from one building complex, keeping OH-58 Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance helicopters at bay with sustained fire whenever they closed in.
Fedayeen also knocked out a Bradley armored vehicle with a rocket propelled grenade. This correspondent saw about six wounded US soldiers.
“There’s been a tough fight. It is tough in there. And it’s hot,” said Sgt. Maj. Patrick Boykin of 101st Airborne Division. “They know the terrain, they’ve been waiting and they’re determined ... but so are we.”
Reuters correspondent Andrew Gray, within sight of the golden-domed mosques in the city center, heard several loud explosions and the heavy pounding of artillery.
Air Force officers said fighter planes had hit a Republican Guards facility, the city headquarters of Saddam’s ruling Baath Party, and a munitions depot with 2,000 pound bombs.
Three huge plumes of smoke rose above the city and one of the bombs appeared to spark a series of secondary explosions.
Fighters popped out of doorways, alleyways and from rooftops to fire at the invaders. People in the city ran scrambled from house to house.
A US officer told Gray the strike against Karbala came from four different directions.
“We are here to reduce the resistance in the town (and) to allow things to return to normal in Karbala,” said Maj. Eric Wick, second in command of the 2nd Battalion of the 70th Armored Regiment. He said the mission would help secure supply lines and allow humanitarian deliveries to Karbala.
US sources said they believed hundreds of Fedayeen paramilitaries could be based in Karbala, threatening US lines stretching hundreds of kilometers from Kuwait.
Najaf and Karbala, home to the holiest Shiite shrines in Iraq, rose up against Baghdad after Iraqi troops were repulsed from Kuwait by US-led forces in 1991. Forces loyal to Saddam put down the uprising within weeks.
One US officer said Najaf residents were welcoming the US forces and offering to help them. US forces said they found 1,000 mortar rounds in a hospital on Karbala’s northern outskirts.
