Coalition Forces Have Advanced Closer to Baghdad - 2003-03-25

Coalition forces have advanced closer to Baghdad, reaching within eighty kilometers of the Iraqi capital, and have launched airstrikes against the powerful Republican Guard that is defending Baghdad. According to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the battle with the Republican Guard will be critical and intense. Witnesses report that following the bombing of a unit of the Republican Guard, which is considered one of Saddam Hussein's elite forces, loud explosions were heard. U.S. attack helicopters faced heavy resistance in their recent assaults on this division. Coalition forces have encountered sporadic resistance in the southern regions of Iraq. Bombing of targets within Baghdad continues. Meanwhile, as fighting persists in the southern cities of Basra and Nasiriyah, battles near the oil center of Kirkuk in northern Iraq have intensified. According to the Pentagon, coalition forces are making progress towards overthrowing Saddam from power, and U.S. military plans are being executed as anticipated and according to U.S. interests. However, major U.S. television networks report that Saddam Hussein has designated a special area around Baghdad and has ordered the Republican Guard to use chemical weapons against coalition forces if they enter that zone.