March 28
— BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Friday that U.S.- British
bombing killed 26 civilians overnight in the central city of Najaf
and another seven in Baghdad.
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said the raids also
wounded 60 people in Najaf, and 92 in the capital.
He told a Baghdad news conference that 116 people had died and
659 had been injured in the southern city of Basra since the war
began.
"The enemy hit civilian areas in Najaf before our valiant forces
successfully beat them back. Until last night, the toll from this
bombing was 60 wounded and 26 martyrs," Sahaf said.
He also said Iraqi forces destroyed 33 tanks and armored cars and
killed four U.S.-British troops on Thursday in fighting in southern
Iraq.
A U.S. officer said American brigades advancing on Baghdad
battled around 1,500 Iraqis overnight near Najaf, 100 miles south of
the capital. Reuters reporter Luke Baker, near Najaf, said U.S.
forces used tanks and heavy artillery.
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