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The following are the latest developments on the battlefield in Iraq:
Baghdad:
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday that US-led coalition forces were moving much closer towards Baghdad. "They (coalition forces) are closing in on Baghdad... They are closer to the center of Baghdad than many American commuter are to their downtown business," Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon news briefing.
US forces has captured Saddam International Airport, 20 km from the center of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, with almost no resistance from the Iraqi army, the ABC television network reported on Thursday.
A reporter of the ABC network said "US forces encountered very little Iraqi resistance, although some units of the 3rd Infantry Division did encounter scattered firing by Iraqi foot soldiers and men in pickups."
Earlier reports reaching here said US forces advancing on the Iraqi capital launched attacks on the airport Thursday evening, and dozens were killed in the assault.
The Iraqi troops and militia inflicted "heavy losses" on the US-led coalition forces on Thursday, the Iraqi military said in a statement broadcast by Iraqi TV.
The Iraqi forces and militia destroyed 19 tanks, two armored vehicles, one F-18 fighter plane and two Apache helicopters, and killed and injured several coalition troops, said the statement.
It added that on the battlefields in Basra, Karbala and other areas, the Iraqi troops and militia successfully fought off attacks from the US-British coalition troops, dispiriting the "enemy" forces.
The US-led coalition forces launched pre-dawn air raids on central Baghdad early on Friday, with more than ten large explosions heard, a Xinhua reporter said.
The new round of airstrikes started at about 2:25 a.m. local time (22:25 GMT), with coalition warplanes flying over central Baghdad, Xinhua reporter Subhy Haddad said.
Some 10 minutes earlier, a series of huge explosions were heard south and southwest of Baghdad.
In the meantime, the US forces and Iraqi troops are still clashing in a fierce battle at the Saddam International Airport, which is some 20 km southwest of Baghdad.
Central Iraq:
One US soldier was killed and several others were injured in a possible friendly fire accident involving a US F-15E Strike Eagle and coalition ground forces, the US Central Command said on Thursday.
In a statement, the Central Command said that it has begun investigation into the incident.
"One US Army soldier is dead and several others are reported injured or missing in connection with the incident," said the statement.
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2003)
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