{"article":{"id":37760,"heading":"First Casualties","author":"mymicz","created":"2003-03-21 21:24:52","modified":"2003-03-21 21:24:52","last_modified":"Sat, 22 Mar 2003 04:24:52","article":"

Baghdad burning after latest airstrike

Pentagon sources: Marines enter Iraq

Thursday, March 20, 2003 Posted: 3:24 PM EST (2024 GMT)





Smoke and flames appear in the sky over Baghdad following an explosion on Thursday evening.

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CNN's Nic Robertson reports on heavy anti-aircraft fire in Baghdad.



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U.S. Marines rush to bunkers and gas masks during an alarm in the desert.



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The USS Donald Cook launches Tomahawk missiles from the Red Sea.



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Iraqis fire on the edge of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.



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CONDITIONS IN THE FIELD

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Parts of Baghdad could be seen burning Thursday night as air raid sirens sounded again two hours after several large explosions rocked the Iraqi capital.

The new strikes on the Iraqi capital took place as U.S. forces from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were moving into Iraq from the southeastern border with Kuwait, Pentagon sources said.

CNN's Nic Robertson reported hearing multiple explosions in the south of Baghdad and the center of the city at 9 p.m. Thursday (1 p.m. EST). They were followed by anti-aircraft fire that lit up the skies.

The airstrikes set ablaze at least two buildings, including one that houses the offices of Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and other government officials.

Iraqi television reported that 72 missiles have hit the city and four Iraqi soldiers have been killed since U.S. airstrikes began Thursday.

Seven aircraft performing missions from the USS Abraham Lincoln dropped bombs Thursday over Iraq aimed at targets U.S. officials deem to be a threat, military officials said, adding that attacks would continue throughout the day.

U.S. and coalition forces launched a series of strikes Thursday after a \"decapitation attack\" aimed at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his leadership, paving the way for a full-fledged attack and ground invasion, U.S. officials said.

U.S. Marines have clashed with Iraqi troops, and an allied bombardment began along the border between Iraq and Kuwait, CNN and other news agencies reported Thursday.

CNN Correspondents Art Harris and Lisa Rose Weaver reported intense attacks by U.S. artillery and aircraft on positions in southern Iraq. New York Times reporter John Kifner, traveling with the U.S. 1st Marine Division, said Marines had engaged Iraqi troops south of the Iraqi border in Kuwait in what is believed to be the first ground combat of the war.

Kifner said the Marines encountered two Iraqi armored personnel carriers and destroyed them.

An ITN reporter embedded with British forces said British troops are on the move with the U.S. troops entering Southern Iraq. \"British guns have been fired,\" he said.

Pentagon officials confirm that U.S. Special Forces are performing reconnaissance missions in southern Iraq, CNN's Barbara Starr reported Thursday. \"They call it preparing the battlefield,\" Starr said.

One senior Bush administration official familiar with morning national security and war planning sessions said it was clear \"things will ramp up fairly quickly today.\"

Dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom, the coalition campaign opened shortly before dawn in Baghdad, with U.S. warships in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf firing about 40 satellite-guided Tomahawk cruise missiles, military officials said. F-117 stealth fighters, which each carry two 2,000-pound \"bunker buster\" bombs, also were involved in the strikes.

U.S. government officials said a private home outside Baghdad had been targeted after intelligence indicated a fix on the location of senior Republican Guard, intelligence and Baath Party leaders -- including Saddam.

The Red Cross reported that one person was killed and 14 people were injured in the strikes.

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