US Official Says Big Battle Under Way at Kerbala

[thedrifter]

US Official Says Big Battle Under Way at Kerbala
AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar (Reuters) - A U.S. military official said on Wednesday U.S. forces were engaged in major fighting with Iraq (news - web sites)'s Republican Guard near Kerbala, the last big city before Baghdad for U.S. troops advancing from the south.


"This is the big battle," the U.S. military official at Central Command forward headquarters told Reuters.


Asked if the fighting represented a much anticipated new push toward the Iraqi capital, the official said: "It well could be."


Kerbala is 68 miles southwest of Baghdad and lies to the west of the Euphrates river. U.S. troops are also pushing north on the eastern side of the Euphrates.


Reuters reporters traveling with invading U.S. and British troops earlier said a pause of several days in their advance toward Baghdad -- under heavy bombardment since the war started 13 days ago -- appeared to be over and armor was moving again.


Reporters with U.S. forces who arrived near Kerbala, a site of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrimage, in the last few days have reported heavy overnight artillery fire on Republican Guard positions.


Republican Guards defending Baghdad's southern outskirts have also been heavily bombarded from the air in recent days.


On Monday, U.S. troops fought Iraqi militia and Republican Guard units near the site of ancient Babylon, across the Euphrates from Kerbala on the eastern bank of the river.



Sempers,

Roger