Dubai: With the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein entering the second week on March
27, the coalition forces opened a new front in the Kurdish-controlled area in
Northern Iraq and were engaged in fierce battle with Iraqi forces while making a
push towards Baghdad.
Amidst fears that the war could drag on for months, Iraq's ruling Baath Party urged
the Security Council to put an end to the US-led military offensive and force a
withdrawal of the invading forces.
"We ask the Security Council and the international community to act seriously and
put an end to aggression and to pull out invading forces from our land immediately,"
the party's mouthpiece 'Al Thawra' newspaper said.
Iraq's Health Minister Umid Medhat Mubarak said that more than 350 people have been
killed and about 3,600 injured since the start of US-led military strikes on March
20.
The minister, at a press conference in the Iraqi capital, said the casualty toll
was "approximate" and included mostly children, women and the elderly.
The coalition was using "cluster bombs" against civilians in Basra and Baghdad,
Mubarak charged.
As the blinding sandstorms that had slowed the US troops movement cleared up, the
Americans used heavy guns and tank shells as well as Apache helicopters to try to
dislodge an estimated 1,500 Iraqi fidayeen fighters who are guarding a bridge across
the Euphrates river to make their way towards Baghdad.
PTI
