Iraq braces for Baghdad siege

Iraq braces for Baghdad siege

Civilians have been fleeing the fighting in Basra and Nasiriya

US-led forces could surround Baghdad within five to 10 days, Iraq has admitted, after another day of heavy fighting on the southern approaches to the capital and escalating military activity in the north.

But the Iraqi defence minister warned that the coalition troops would face street-by-street fighting if they tried to enter Baghdad, which has once again come under intense aerial attack.

A US military spokesman said air strikes and cruise missiles had "taken out" a major communication centre and command and control facilities in the city.

With fierce battles raging around strategic towns in the south, the UK and US leaders have said the war would continue until President Saddam Hussein was removed from power.

In Nasiriya, and further south in the city of Basra, hundreds of Iraqi civilians are reported to have fled their homes.

In fresh military action US troops and members of Iraq's Fedayeen units have fought a major battle in the central town of Samawah, the site of a crucial bridge on the way to Baghdad.

There has also been intense fighting around the strategic town of Nasiriya, where the US stepped up bombing in an attempt to dislodge significant Iraqi resistance.

US-led troops received a boost on Thursday as the weather improved following severe sandstorms that had grounded their attack helicopters.

Other military developments:

• The US plans to double its troop strength in Iraq to about 200,000 in the next month, US officials said.

• Troops from the Texas-based US Army's 4th Infantry Division fly out to the Gulf. Up to 12,000 troops will be heading to the region over the next week.

• UK tanks destroy 14 Iraqi tanks and a number of armoured vehicles attempting to break out of Basra.

• US cargo planes deliver military supplies and 200 more troops to northern Iraq, a day after hundreds of US troops parachute into the area.

• Also in northern Iraq, Kurdish militiamen cross the frontline into Iraqi Government-controlled territory, seizing a hilltop position guarding the advance to the city of Kirkuk, after Iraqi forces withdraw.

IRAQ CAMPAIGN

Map: Military operations

The Fedayeen

Iraq's Defence Minister Sultan Hashem Ahmed said he expected US-led forces to surround Baghdad within five to 10 days. US-led forces are already within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of the capital.

But the Iraqi minister told reporters in Baghdad the coalition troops would face street-to-street fighting if they attempted to enter the city.

"Baghdad cannot be taken as long as the citizens in it are still alive," he said.

A series of fresh explosions hit Baghdad overnight.

One strike, late on Thursday, sparked a large fire on the west bank of the River Tigris, where several ministries and military compounds are located.

On the other side of the river, a US B-2 Spirit bomber was used to attack a large tower which housed a key Iraqi communication centre, a US official told the BBC.

"The strike with two precision-guided munitions was to degrade the ability of the Saddam Hussein regime to command and control the actions of Iraq's military forces," said a US military spokesman in Qatar.

One of Saddam Hussein's presidential compounds was also hit.

US President George W Bush has said that thanks to coalition troops "the grip of terror around the throat of the Iraqi people is being loosened."

Speaking at a news conference with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr Bush said both countries were committed to freeing the people of Iraq "however long it takes".

The leaders were meeting at Camp David, Maryland, as the conflict entered its second week.

In other developments

• The United Nations reaches broad agreement on restoring the oil-for-food programme in Iraq.

• Iraq denies that two dead British soldiers shown on Arabic television on Wednesday had been executed.

• The US ambassador to the UN walks out of the Security Council debate on Iraq, while Iraq's envoy is accusing the US of trying to exterminate the Iraqi people.

• UK Chancellor Gordon Brown announces that he will nearly double the UK war budget to £3bn ($4.5bn)

• A UK ship carrying 500 tons of food, water and blankets is prevented from docking in the port of Umm Qasr after the discovery of a mine in the harbour.