The Houston Chronicle April 09, 2003
AMERICA AT WAR ; WAR IN IRAQ: DAY 21
American forces crushed an Iraqi counterattack and U.S. commanders say they are now attacking in Baghdad from three directions - outward from the center, from the northwest and the southeast. The U.S. controls all major access roads to the city. The Red Cross says Baghdad hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties.
U.S. A-10 "Warthog" shot down by surface-to-air missile near Baghdad International Airport; pilot ejected and was rescued in good condition.
Iraqi forces staged a major counterattack, sending buses and trucks full of fighters across the Tigris River in a failed attempt to overrun U.S. forces holding a strategic intersection on the western side of Baghdad.
It will take time to determine whether Saddam Hussein was killed in a bombing raid where it was believed he was meeting with his sons. At least three houses were destroyed and 20 others damaged.
Traffic built up north of the city as thousands of people continued to flee Baghdad.
Al-Jazeera journalist killed by U.S. bomb that hit the network's office; Abu Dhabi TV office also hit.
Using the strategic Jumhuriya Bridge, a U.S. tank moved east across the Tigris River
Two journalists were killed and three injured in the Palestine Hotel when it was struck by U.S. tank fire responding to hostile attacks.
Marines captured the Rasheed Airport after crossing the Tigris River and defeating heavily armed Iraqi forces.
Elsewhere:
U.S. jets bombed Iraqi positions near Kirkuk, which remained under control of the regime.
In Amarah, Marines seized the airport and an ammunition dump without resistance.
In Basra, a city of 1.3 million people under British control, military officials appointed a local sheik as a civilian commander, the first replacement administration put into place anywhere in Iraq.
GRAPHIC: Graph: 1. WAR IN IRAQ: DAY 21 (TEXT); Drawing: 2. U.S. A-10 "Warthog" airplane; Houston Chronicle, Sources: National Imagery and Mapping Agency; GlobalSecurity.org; Associated Press; Knight Ridder Tribune; Jane's Information Group
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