U.S. Marines in armored vehicles closed in on Tikrit on Monday after a fierce battle against Iraqi loyalists in the outskirts of Saddam Hussein's hometown.
A task force of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, supported by helicopters and F-18 jets, attacked remnants of the Iraqi Republican Guard and paramilitary fighters on the southern edge of Tikrit on Sunday as they thrust toward the city center.
The morning combat came after a night of heavy bombing and after Marines made several forays in and out of the city Sunday, drawing occasional small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
Several Iraqi tanks were destroyed and at least 15 Iraqis killed, the U.S. military said in Qatar.
U.S. military planners have suggested that troops loyal to the deposed Iraqi leader might make a last stand there. U.S. forces suspected about 2,500 soldiers of the Republican Guard and the paramilitary Fedayeen were holed up in Tikrit, a reporter for Canada's National Post covering the Marines told CNN.
However, armed men in Tikrit told al-Jazeera television that tribal leaders were negotiating a cease-fire with U.S. forces and Iraqi troops and paramilitaries had left.
In Baghdad an edgy calm was shattered after nightfall on Sunday when a firefight erupted between U.S. troops and snipers near the Palestine Hotel, where foreign media are staying.
The shooting lasted several minutes and flares lit up an area near the hotel before the firing died down. American television showed footage of three men without shirts being detained and led away by U.S. Marines. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
