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650 Iraqis killed at Najaf
26/03/2003 10:33 - (SA)
Near Najaf - US troops killed about 650 Iraqis in fighting near the central town of Najaf, an army officer said on Wednesday, providing a toll far higher than that supplied by the Pentagon.
US officials in Washington had earlier said 150 to 300 Iraqis were killed in the Shiite Muslim pilgrimage city, near which US troops were massed for a crucial push on Baghdad in their drive to unseat Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
"An estimated 650 Iraqis were killed over the last 24 hours in the Najaf area," said Major John Altman, intelligence officer of the Third Infantry Division's First Brigade. He said there were no US casualties.
The Iraqi dead included Fedayeen militiamen and fighters of Saddam's Baath party who were heavily outgunned, using Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades against US Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, Altman said.
Some 250 Iraqis were killed when the First Brigade secured a bridge north of Najaf, towards the Iraqi capital about 120km away. Another 200 were killed west of Najaf and the rest in various other spots.
Altman said 300 Iraqis were taken prisoner and about 100 fled, perhaps to take up positions as snipers.
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