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* US forces battle Republican Guard on southern approaches to Baghdad; more airstrikes pound Iraqi capital
* Advance units of US-led force are 80 km (50 miles) from Baghdad, their closest point to Saddam’s powerbase
* Colin Powell to visit Ankara, Brussels this week to discuss aftermath of Iraq war with NATO, European leaders
* UK troops open water pipeline to Umm Qasr from Kuwait; Red Cross starts visiting Iraqi prisoners of war; U.N. food aid agency buys hundreds of thousands of tonnes of flour, rice for Iraq, but most aid deliveries still blocked by war
QUOTES
US Brigadier General Brooks: “We’re coming. Where the regime is, we’re coming.”
Iraqi Foreign Minister Sabri: “With every passing day, they are sinking deeper into the mud of defeat and their losses are increasing.”
CASUALTIES
* US - 46 killed, 17 missing
* Britain - 25 killed
* Iraqi military - no confirmed figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 589 killed, 4,582 injured
MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: Blasts hit presidential palace used by Saddam’s son in Baghdad; warplanes pound city’s southern outskirts where there are Republican Guard positions.
Intense artillery barrage opens up on Baghdad’s southern outskirts as warplanes from the US-led invasion force scream low over capital.
SOUTHERN IRAQ: US units testing the southern defences of Baghdad fight Republican Guards and other forces at Hindiya, no more than 80kms from the capital.
Fighting erupts along Euphrates river front lines near ancient Babylon and at least one American is killed at Hindiya.
US Marines enter the town of Shatra, 35kms north of the city of Nassiriya, after storming it with planes, tanks and helicopter gunships.
British Royal Marines clash with paramilitaries south of Basra
NORTHERN IRAQ: B-52 bombers pound positions near Mosul, Kirkuk. US-led forces seen scouting Iraqi front-line positions. —Reuters
