Dubai: The day after the fall of Baghdad, the US-led war in Iraq was far from over
with US forces on April 10 coming under intense attack from Saddam Hussein's loyal
soldiers as looting continued in the capital while the American-backed Kurdish
forces entered the key Northern oil city of Kirkuk.
In Baghdad, US troops continued to face sporadic resistance, coming under fire in
several parts of the city. Iraqi troops - thought to be members of the elite
Republican Guard - fired machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades at a US convoy.
The marines later began searching a nearby mosque, where it was thought Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein might be hiding.
The US Central Command in Doha said marines were engaged in "intense fighting" with
pro-Saddam forces at Imam mosque, the Az Amihyah palace and a house of a leader of
Baath party.
One American soldier was killed and 20 injured in the fighting which also left five
Iraqis killed and six wounded. One American tank and a personnel carrier were also
destroyed, reports reaching Dubai said.
US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in separate recorded
remarks televised throughout Iraq told the Iraqi people that the Saddam Hussein
regime is
"collapsing" and that they "deserve to live as free people".
"The long era of fear and cruelty is ending," Bush said in a two-and-a-half minute
address recorded on April 8 while meeting with Blair in Northern Ireland.
PTI
