U.S. warplanes raided targets early Sunday near Karbala where there are believed to be concentrations of Republican Guard forces, some 75 kilometers south of Baghdad.
Three-quarters of the allied air strikes are now going after Republican Guard forces ringing Baghdad, Air Force Brig. Gen. Daniel Darnell told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said early on Sunday that it bombed the main training site for Iraqi Fedayeen paramilitary forces, a presidential palace, intelligence complex and surface-to-air missile sites in Baghdad.
Calling them "key" strikes, satellite-guided bombs targeted the main training facility of the Fedayeen paramilitary forces at about 11:30 p.m. Iraqi time on Saturday (2030 GMT), the statement from the U.S. military's Combined Forces Air Component Command said.
The strike targeted the training facility's barracks in eastern Baghdad, the statement said. "The Fedayeen in this area are in charge of security functions in eastern Baghdad," it said.
U.S.-led warplanes on Saturday bombed "command and control facilities" at the Abu Garayb Presidential Palace, east of the Saddam International Airfield in western Baghdad, and two facilities at the Karada Intelligence Complex, also at about 11:30 p.m. Iraqi time, the U.S. military said.
The intelligence complex on the banks of the Tigris River in southern Baghdad was used to "direct military intelligence operations and to coordinate the oppression of internal opposition," the statement said.
U.S.-led aircraft also dropped satellite-guided bombs on two surface-to-air missile complexes in eastern Baghdad at bout the same time, the U.S. military said.
"The strike enhances the security of Coalition air forces conducting missions over the capitol city of Baghdad," it said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
