Operation Iraqi Freedom - April 4, 2003, Day Sixteen

[David]

American troops have closed in on Baghdad from several directions, trading heavy fire with Iraqi militia Friday night, while preparing to move on the capital, if and when the order is given. But after the surrender of some 25-hundred members of Iraq's Republican Guard in the past day.

U.S. Army forces finally took control of Saddam International Airport, about 20 kilometers southwest of the capital, and promptly renamed it Baghdad International Airport. Some Iraqi resistance reportedly persisted after the facility was captured.

U.S. Army Special Forces found a site in western Iraq near Mudaysis that probably was used as a nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) warfare training center for the Iraqi Army.

British forces operating in the south continued to expand their influence by ridding al Basrah of Iraqi paramilitary death squads. Aggressive patrols beyond Basrah resulted in the seizure of a cache of 56 surface-to-surface, short-range ballistic missiles, and four missile launchers in the vicinity of al Zubair, which is just northwest of Basrah.

The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force continued its attack toward Baghdad, destroying remnants of the Baghdad Republican Guard Division near al Kut, and elements of the Al Nida Republican Guard Division between al Kut and Baghdad.

Two Marine pilots were killed in the crash of their AH-1W "Super Cobra" attack helicopter in central Iraq at approximately 12:19 a.m Saturday morning (local time) Friday EST.