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Iraq says 25 US, British troops killed in Nasiriyah battle
(March 24,2003 )(Agencies)
Iraq said on Sunday that 25 US and British troops were killed in fighting with Iraqi forces around the southern city of Nasiriyah, and US commanders confirmed the battle had left an undetermined number of casualties.
Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmad meanwhile told reporters that "a number" of US soldiers were killed in Khumaysiyat in the mid-Euphrates region south of Baghdad.
He spoke shortly after the United States suffered its biggest blow yet in the four-day-old war against Iraq when Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television relayed Iraqi TV footage of American soldiers said to have been killed or captured in fighting around Nasiriyah.
"Twenty-five soldiers were killed, a large number wounded and others taken prisoner," an Iraqi military spokesman said.
US-led troops were on Sunday engaged in a fierce battle for control of Nasiriyah + a key crossing point over the Euphrates river.
US commanders confirmed that several of their troops were killed, wounded or captured in heavy fighting in and around Nasiriyah.
Lieutenant General John Abizaid, deputy commander of the Central Command, told a briefing at the Centcom forward command post in As-Saliyah base in Qatar that a number of US Marines, "less than 10," were killed and others wounded.
He said some Army troops were wounded and 12 missing after a separate ambush of a supply convoy near Nasiriyah.
The 12 were believed to be in Iraqi custody, said Brigadier General Vince Brooks.
The Iraqi defense minister did not say how many US troops were killed in the mid-Euphrates region in central Iraq but added that "their bodies were abandoned" there.
Ahmad pledged, however, that Iraq would respect the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of US and British prisoners of war.
"We have values and principles," he told reporters.
"We are committed to the Geneva Conventions. Our values, our religion and our manners make us treat prisoners of war the way they deserve to be treated."
The airing of footage of five POWs and at least five charred bodies drew strong US and British condemnation. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the images, "part of Iraqi propaganda," would violate the Geneva Conventions.
The Iraqi defense minister said fighting was still going in the southern port city of Umm Qasr, where US-led troops had been "unable to extend their lines."
The allied forces have been battling to gain control of Umm Qasr, Iraq's only deep-water port, where they have been engaged in combat since the outbreak of war on Thursday.
Ahmad said clashes were also continuing on the strategic Fao Peninsula, which allied troops reported they had captured on the second day of hostilities.
Echoing comments made by other officials earlier Sunday, Ahmad said US and British troops had only managed to deploy in desert areas but would face a tough battle if they came into cities.
"The cities will fight them. We will fight them in Fao, Umm Qasr, Basra, Nasiriyah and Najaf. We are ready for martyrdom in this battle," he said.
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Jeff
发帖IP地址:64.110.94.245
more and more US and British troops will be killed by IRAQ troops