Here is an updated version of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I organized and edited Sunday and Monday. There are new events reported for Monday and Tuesday. It is not always easy to figure out exactly which day events unfold. I read in one report that battles can only be reported two days after they actually occur, but it appears that many battles are reported as they occur or shortly afterwards. The other twist in reporting the timeline is that the article may have a byline showing a particular day even though the west coast of the United States is eleven hours past the time in Baghdad. The articles usually say "today such and such event happened" or "last night it happened" when it may be a different day where the reporter is than the date on the byline. It is difficult to figure out the chronological point of view of the reporter.

For anyone trying to figure out the times showing in the log, GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is 3 hours behind Baghdad time. EST (Eastern Standard Time) is 8 hours behind and PST (Pacific Standard Time) is 11 hours behind. To figure out the time in Baghdad, add these hours to the local time or the reported time to get the time in Baghdad.

March 30 – Sunday
Kurdistan
Kurdish troops took control of territory left by Iraqi forces withdrawing toward the oil center of Kirkuk. They advanced almost 10 miles - slowly, as the cleared more than 300 mines
Bombing in Mosul, Basra
heavy American bombing in Kirkuk this morning. military posts around the oil installations to the North of the city
Adnan Division, a Republican Guard unit that was moved from Mosul to Tikrit, Mr. Hussein's hometown north of Baghdad, has moved again. Most of the division has now taken up positions close to Baghdad to strengthen the defense of the capital, while a small element is still in Tikrit.
The nearly 10-mile advance toward Kirkuk Sunday by the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia was unchallenged but slowed by dense minefields. It was the third significant shift since Thursday
In Baghdad
targets hit by coalition aircraft included military facilities at the Abu Garayb Presidential Palace, the Karada military intelligence complex and the barracks of a major paramilitary training center, all in different sectors of Baghdad
1st Marine Division in Al Kut, Diwaniyah & Central Mesopotamia
A Marine UH-1 Huey helicopter crashed Sunday night at a forward supply and refueling point in southern Iraq
Marines from 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment returned Sunday from a two-day mission. Actively seeking engagements, they went to three cities and towns in southern-central Iraq including Afak, about 50 miles east of Najaf. Some of the fighting, they said, was building to building.
1st Marine Regiment moves north and engages Iraqi forces in towns along the highway. Troops also raid local Baath party hq, unearthing large amounts of arms and take 27 prisoners.
On Saturday, the Marines found a cache of weapons in a tiny village north of Nasiriyah along the road to Baghdad. This morning they returned for lunch with the locals. - Jonathan Finer, Washington Post
The Marines' Third Air Wing has bombed the Baghdad Division, an infantry unit that is stationed southeast of Baghdad, and the Al Nida Division.
1st Marines Regiment fighting near Rifa
Sunday involving the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force: "During daylight hours, two vehicles rapidly approached the Marine checkpoint at a high rate of speed," he said. "When they failed to stop, having been signaled by a Psychological Operations loudspeaker team present at the site, they were taken under fire by the checkpoint. The lead vehicle, a sedan, immediately halted, and the second vehicle, a truck, rear-ended it. An adult male, an adult female, and two children exited the sedan. "Two Iraqi soldiers exited the truck with weapons and one of the soldiers shot and killed the adult female," Brooks went on. "After a brief firefight, both Iraqi soldiers and the three surviving civilians lay wounded. As the Marines approached, one of the wounded soldiers pulled out a weapon and was killed on the spot. The Marines evacuated the remaining wounded, and upon searching the truck found 120 millimeter mortars, and mortar ammunition."
U.S. Marines captured a huge ammunition depot in south-central Iraq that included 40 warehouses. found "scores of ammunition, rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and various other small arms," – Washington Post
Najaf, Karbala & Around Baghdad
101st Airborne battles iraqi mortar fire in Najaf and surrounds the city and secures an airfield
101st Airborne Division surrounded Najaf on Sunday and was in position to begin rooting out the paramilitary forces inside the city.
American Marine and Army infantry units arrayed along a broad front south of Baghdad on Sunday made their first probing attacks against the Republican Guard division at Karbala. 5,000-member Second Brigade of the Third Infantry Division moved north from the region around Najaf. thousands of soldiers from the First Marine Division moved north engage Iraqi forces in towns along the highway approach to Baghdad
U.S. artillery fired volleys at the city of Al-Hindiyah on the Euphrates River.
Army's 3rd Infantry Division advanced 10 miles to near Karbala, just 50 miles from Baghdad - also a Shiite holy city. One battalion was slowed by the need to shepherd dozens of surrendering Iraqi soldiers.
Republican Guard positions between Karbala and Baghdad continued to be targeted for allied bombardment
82nd Airborne Division killed about 100 "regime terror squad members" and captured about 50 prisoners at the Shiite holy city of Najaf
2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division fired on suspected enemy positions on the outskirts of this Euphrates River city tonight during a second day of clashes between U.S. Army forces and Iraqi military and militia groups. U.S. soldiers engaged enemy positions with small arms, mortars and 2.75-inch rockets fired from OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. Two battalions from the 82nd Airborne Division with tank support from a company from the 1st Armored Division, tried to block vehicle and foot traffic into the city of about 140,000. 1st Armored Division provided 14 Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
82nd Airborne has an airbase in S. Central Iraq and is escorting convoys to As Samawah
British Warplanes hit a fuel depot in Karbala
soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division advanced 10-mile toward Baghdad on Sunday, bringing them within 50 miles of the capital,
3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade had taken control of a stretch of Highway 9 about 14 miles west of the town of Hilla and 20 miles southwest of the ruins of Babylon. The area is about six miles from the Euphrates River, beyond which lie the southern approaches to Baghdad guarded by the Medina Division. 3rd Infantry Division units turned to the east and ran into resistance from militiamen and regular army along Highway 9. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the Iraqi fighters called in mortar strikes on the U.S. armor and were met with barrages from multiple-launch rocket systems and 155mm Paladin cannons
4 a.m., the 2nd Brigade moved out across the desert with armored vehicles targeting two Iraqi army mechanized companies and one tank company that had been sending vehicles south to probe the U.S. lines Alpha & Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Regiment involved. In late afternoon, Bravo Company reached Highway 9. Captives taken, turned over to 141st Military Intelligence Battalion for questioning. Iraqi irregulars are members of the Al Quds militia
Fighting street by street, U.S. Army troops entered Hindiyah today. At least 15 Iraqi troops were killed in the fighting in Hindiyah. Americans captured several dozen Iraqis Nebuchadnezzar Brigade, Republican Guard based in Saddam's home area of Tikrit
An Nasiriyah
In Nasirayah, where fighting has been fierce for a week, Marines secured buildings held by an Iraqi infantry division that contained large caches of weapons and chemical decontamination equipment.
At Tallil, the former Iraqi airbase near the southern city of Nasiriyah that has been taken over the U.S. forces, A-10 Warthogs departed for missions throughout the day. Tallil grows in importance and size; it is nearer to targets than take-off points in the Persian Gulf, Kuwait or elsewhere
Marines from the Second Battalion were searching houses for weapons today in Nasiriya
15th MEU goes door to door in Nasiriyah
Marine helicopter assaults on Nasiriya, where Hellfire missiles were fired into blocks of houses and buildings on the Euphrates waterfront.
2nd Marine Division hands out its own supplies to refugees in Nasiriyah.
Basra & Southern Iraq
British troops moved into villages on the fringes of Basra, the southern city where an outnumbered but tough core of Saddam loyalists have held off the coalition for about a week. Up to 1,000 Royal Marines and supporting troops, backed by heavy artillery and tanks, staged a commando assault in a Basra suburb, killing some 30 Iraqi fighters and destroying a bunker and several tanks.
Royal Marine Commandos said they captured an Iraqi general and killed a Republican Guard colonel
Royal Marines' largest operation of the war so far, the British Press Association reported fierce fighting for the town of Abu al Khasib, southwest of Basra. It said 30 Iraqis had been killed and hundreds captured in what the British are calling Operation James, named after James Bond.
Kalashnikov rifles confiscated from defeated Iraqi soldiers were being collected by British troops to pass to pro-Western rebels in Basra.
British Sunday blow up an arsenal of shells at an Iraqi Army base south of Basra
The offensive at Abu al-Qassib east of Basra was described by one British officer as "the marines' largest operation of the war so far". Codenamed Operation James, after James Bond, it began at 0300 BST UK time with a heavy artillery barrage. The Royal Marines were supported by 14 Challenger II tanks, a similar number of Scimitar armoured vehicles and Commando-trained Royal Engineers. Units Involved: 40 Commando Royal Marines, 59 Independent Commando Squadron , Scots Dragoon Guards (tanks and armoured vehicles) , 1(UK) Armoured Division (artillery). three rifle companies, each consisting of more than 120 men, advanced on foot at first light along a wide front of territory aiming to trap Iraqi forces up against the Shatt Al-Arab waterway. To the east and the west blocking positions were set up. As Marines from 40 Commando advanced they were engaged many times by enemy snipers and from bunker positions. In another part of the battle, British helicopters destroyed three Iraqi boats that attacked a British position on the Shatt al-Arab waterway. There are reports that several hundred Iraqi soldiers have already been taken prisoner. Early on Sunday, Royal Marine commandos killed a Republican Guard colonel believed to be directing irregular forces that have fired on civilians trying to flee the city
north of Basra, air support units destroyed 17 Iraqi T-55 tanks, five artillery pieces and seven armoured personnel carriers.
Special Forces psychological operations team create the auditory illusion of multiple armored vehicles on the move to startle the Iraqis into bolting and then call in air, tank or artillery fire when their location was exposed. Sunday night, the noise deception worked
Green Berets have moved to safe houses, operating within communities in the Basra area where Iraqi militiamen still rule the streets
Kuwait Reports
75th Exploitation Task Force hunting for evidence of weapons of mass destruction
Second Armored Cavalry regiment were leaving Louisiana for the war with Iraq by air rather than by ship

March 31 – Monday
Najaf, Karbala & Around Baghdad
Al Hindiyah
In Al Hindiyah, 15 Iraqi troops were killed, and the Americans captured several dozen Iraqis who identified themselves as members of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard
At Hindiya, Iraqi prisoners taken in fighting included a battalion commander who said he was from the Nebuchadnezzar Division – Patrick Tyler, New York Times
Army forces fought pitched battles at the Euphrates River town of Hindiyah against Republican Guards and other Iraqi loyalists. After the battle, soldiers from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment rested Tuesday – Associated Press
Seventh Infantry approaching a woman who was caught in a fierce battle today on a strategic bridge in Hindiyah
American forces had entered the Baath Party office in Hindiya. Inside, they found tens of thousands of rounds of small-arms ammunition, as well as hundreds of mortars and many heavy machine guns. – Patrick Tyler, New York Times
Third Infantry Division wrested the town of Hindiyah from Iraqi control
Hillah
US units are said to have pushed north from Najaf as far as the small town of Hillah, just southeast of Kerbala
Fighting also erupted along the Euphrates river near ancient Babylon, on a front about 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad and southeast of Kerbala, and at least one American was killed near the city of Hilla. the road to the nearby town of Imam Aiyub was littered with burned out vehicles, blitzed in previous fighting. 2nd Battalion 70th Armored Regiment near Imam Aiyub
There's still extremely heavy contact in Imam Aiyub, which is east of the Euphrates River near Hilla, about 12 miles south of the site of ancient Babylon. 2nd Battalion 70th Armoured Regiment. began a few hours after dawn on Monday and lasted at least into the late afternoon, U.S. troops used tanks, helicopters and artillery against the Iraqi positions, and called in British Tornado jets and U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats to drop laser-guided bombs, U.S. officers said. The Iraqis hit back with tanks, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Units of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division were also involved and at least one of its members was killed by small arms fire.
Samawa
82nd Airborne is conducting operations in Samawa
fighting around Najaf and Samawa, soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division killed about 100 ``terror squad members,''
82nd Airborne Division ride past these scenes in a 14-vehicle convoy skirting Samawah, a Euphrates River town of about 140,000. Objectives is to deliver supplies to a division combat battalion and pick up nine Iraqis the camp of the 1st Battalion of the 325th Infantry Regiment who earlier were captured in a firefight that wounded two Americans. – Washington Post
Troops of the 82nd Airborne Division had their first clash on Sunday with Iraqi troops near a city on Highway 8. Monday saw the collection and inspection of Iraqi prisoners taken during the battle – Washington Post
Najaf
82nd Airborne Division killed about 100 "regime terror squad members" and captured about 50 prisoners at the Shiite holy city of Najaf and another town in south-central Iraq
Two brigades were trying to isolate Najaf. An armored unit of the 3rd Infantry Division rolled into the town of 80,000 at dawn firing from tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles as they crossed a bridge on the Euphrates River and was met by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from Iraqis hiding behind hedges and brick walls. – Patrick Tyler, New York Times
American artillery rocket attacks and also mortar attacks on Iraqi forces around the city of Najaf have continued this morning. There are quite a few Iraqi casualties - may be up to 100
Army Special Forces teams operating around Najaf said today that Fedayeen militiamen are converting the Tomb of Ali into a central stronghold, firing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic weapons from the alleys and neighborhoods around the shrine, which is also adjacent to a market. - Rick Atkinson, Washington Post
101st Airborne Division has attacked Najaf from north and south to secure U.S. supply lines leading toward Baghdad. Today, five GBU-12 bombs dropped shortly after 3 p.m. (7 a.m. EST) by U.S. Navy F/A-18s. - Rick Atkinson, Washington Post
Twenty miles north of Najaf along the southern approaches to the Euphrates River town of Hilla, the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne fought Iraqi artillery and an infantry battalion that might have included troops from the Medina Division. One U.S. soldier was shot and killed while riding atop a tank. He was hit in chest by a round that penetrated a crease in the side of his body armor. In the same firefight, eight AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from the 101st received damage from small-arms fire or 57mm antiaircraft guns, and one pilot was slightly wounded. - Rick Atkinson, Washington Post
On the southeastern edge of Najaf, one battalion from the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne pushed farther into the city under light mortar fire and cleared a military training compound, another battalion swept east to capture the city airfield. - Rick Atkinson, Washington Post
Outside Najaf, soldiers from the 101st Airborne seized an airfield and a power plant. Jim Dwyer, New York Times
U.S. Army intelligence estimates that in Najaf there are 1,400 to 2,100 fighters, made up of Saddam's Fedayeen and Al Kut militia, forcing the 101st Airborne Division to throttle the city from north and south in order to secure U.S. supply lines leading toward Baghdad. Army Special Forces teams operating around An Najaf said today that fedayeen are converting the Tomb of Ali into a central stronghold, firing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic weapons from the narrow alleys and ancient neighborhoods around the shrine. 'It's a rabbit warren,' one commander said.
Near Najaf 101st Division's artillery unit swapped artillery rounds with the Iraqis, who were able to place some of their shells close enough to drive back a line of American vehicles on the road
Near Najaf near the end of the day, Bradley fighting vehicles carried American infantrymen directly to bunkers occupied by Iraqi soldiers, which were stocked with rocket-propelled grenades and other munitions. At close quarters, some surrendered, and others were killed
3rd Infantry Division destroyed a vehicle that failed to stop at a checkpoint. Fifteen Iraqi civilians were packed inside the Toyota, it turned out, along with as many of their possessions as the jammed vehicle could hold. Ten of them, including five children who appeared to be under 5 years old, were killed on the spot when the high-explosive rounds slammed into their target – Washington Post
Karbala
Karbala, a battalion of Apaches attack helicopters destroyed two air defense systems
Early Monday, elements of the 3rd Infantry Division encountered Republican Guard units in the area south of Karbala and captured two officers, said Capt. Ronny Johnson, a company commander of the 3rd Battalion. Officers said 800 to 2,000 members of the Republican Guard were believed to be on the eastern side of the Euphrates, operating as commandos, with light antitank weapons but no armor.
1st Marine Division in Al Kut, Diwaniyah & Central Mesopotamia
Marines who had been heading north toward Kut and Baghdad retraced their steps on Monday and raided the town of Shatra
Marine Corps is nearing the key town of Al Kut
Fourth Marines Regiment digging a machine gun trench today on the main highway to Baghdad near Diwaniyah
6,000 US Marines has resumed its push towards Baghdad and is preparing to confront a key unit of the Iraqi Republican Guard
The advance on Baghdad has resumed, noticeably slower and more cautious than before. Overnight, American forces dropped two-thousand-pound bombs on Iraqi positions near the Marines' camp
Main column of Marines within 70 miles of Baghdad close to Hillah. 14,000 Marines - Dexter Filkins, New York Times
1st Marine Expeditionary Force sought to retrieve one of their comrades whose body was hanged in Shatra after he was killed in a firefight
5th & 7th Marines near Hillah. Facing little resistance after a battle the previous night. - New York Times
Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment walk through a palm grove as they search for weapons in an attempt to secure the road east of Nasiriyah - Eric Feferberg -- AFP
A force of Marines swooped into the local headquarters of Hussein's ruling Baath Party in Shatra using shoulder-fired thermobaric munitions that suck the oxygen out of a room. They also called in air support and destroyed the building during the raid. – Washington Post
Near Diwaniyah Marines battled Iraqi Republican Guardsmen and other fighters who fired on them from fortified bunkers and positions in buildings and behind vehicles. The Iraqis, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and small arms, fought for about 10 hours. At least 75 Iraqi fighters were killed and 44 were taken prisoner, including two Republican Guard officers. The Marines, who provoked the fight by going into an area where they had been fired on before, used 155mm artillery to clear mortar nests and destroy Iraqi tanks. – Associated Press
An Nasiriyah
About 5,000 additional US troops, including special forces, are being sent to the area around Nasiriya
Nasiriya. Overnight marines said a giant AC130 gunship was used in a strike on an Iraqi security complex
To the east, in Suq al Shuyukh, the Baath Party offices were hit by F18 aircraft.
On the southern edge of Nasiriyah, marines overran an abandoned military camp in a predawn raid, and said they found weapons, gas masks and supplies of atropine, an antidote to nerve gas.
Basra & Southern Iraq
Royal Marine commandos have begun patrolling the streets of Abu al Khasib. British marines are continuing an operation to clear Iraqi forces from an area to the southeast of Basra
Near the Nadia bridge (Basra) we're told there has been a serious firefight with the 16 Airborne involved. We're told that 240 Iraqi soldiers have been killed there.
British army says it wiped out a significant amount of armour and infantry north of the Rumaila oil fields overnight. British air assault brigade attacked two companies of Iraqi infantry north of the Rumeila region overnight and destroyed 17 T-55 tanks and five artillery pieces
Members of the British Seventh Armored Brigade, known as the Desert Rats, enter Baath Party headquarters on Monday in Thunbah Al Hamra near the southern city of Basra.
warplanes bombed targets in and around the city of Mosul
Iraqi Republican Guard division, now based near the city of Tikrit, Mr. Hussein's hometown, has also begun to move southward toward Baghdad
The Medina division and its reinforcements are placing men and equipment in and around the cities of Karbala and Babylon
members of the 1st Battalion of the Blackwatch along with four tanks, stormed into the school where Two Kenyan lorry drivers had been held captive by Iraqi soldiers for ten days
Irish Guard 7th Brigade in Basra
British troops move into southern town of al-Zubayr again
battalion of the Black Watch, one of the British Army's most famous regiments, took control of the center of Zubayr – Patrick Tyler, New York Times
UMM QASR, Iraq (AP) -- Two Iraqi soldiers who said they were sent on a suicide attack mission to the country's largest port have turned themselves in to British troops – Associated Press
In Baghdad
B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers struck communication and command centers in Baghdad overnight
Late in the day, U.S. warplanes flew low over the city, and correspondents could hear the whumps of artillery to the south and west of the city. "The artillery fire is suddenly very intense. We can hear it coming from the south. It's unusual
Tomahawk cruise missile was launched at the Information Ministry near the Tigris River early
The Daily Mirror, a UK tabloid newspaper which opposes the war, says it has hired veteran reporter Peter Arnett - a few hours after he was sacked by the American NBC TV network for saying the initial war plan had failed.
Iraqi Information Minister says American advance parties that set up camouflaged hideouts in the desert. From those hideouts, he said, the Americans had harassed Iraqi units and sought to create the impression that the Americans were further forward and in greater strength than they were. Having discovered this tactic, Mr. Sahhaf said, the Saddam fedayeen forces destroyed one desert hideout, killing all of the American troops there. – John Burns, New York Times
Qusay's palace came under round after round of what sounded like bunker-busting bombs, the word among Iraqis who dared talk of it was that it was the tunnels and bunkers beneath the building that the Pentagon was after – John Burns, New York Times
Northern Iraq & Kurdistan
commanders said forces searching the recently captured compound of Muslim extremist group Ansar al-Islam found documents, computer discs and other material belonging to Arab fighters - including lists of suspected militants living in the United States.
On the northern front, bombing raids were reported near Mosul, about 250 miles north of Baghdad.
Kurdish leaders produced two of five Iraqi soldiers who surrendered on Monday after three days of heavy American bombardment of their bunkers near the village of Kalak.
Western Iraq
American troops only 50 miles away to the south, and about 100 miles away to the west of Baghdad. There, travelers have reported being stopped and searched by American tank squadrons that have straddled the highways leading to Jordan and Syria just west of the Euphrates River town of Ramadi. From Ramadi, it is only about 85 miles as helicopters fly to Tikrit, Mr. Hussein's home base northwest of Baghdad, which has also come under heavy American bombing. - John Burns, New York Times

April 1 - Tuesday
Basra & Southern Iraq
Tim Franks :: 0536GMT The British say they have secured the town of Al Zubayr.
In Kuwait, where 5,000 of an expected force of 30,000 troops from the Fort Hood, Texas-based 4th Infantry Division have arrived – Associated Press
Southern Iraq :: Tim Franks :: 0658GMT The two Iraqi Seersucker missiles fired this morning at British position here were from short range. One landed, according to a British military spokesman, close to a Royal Marine encampment. The other, we're told, came down next to the large prisoner of war camp by the port of Umm Qasr.
Kylie Morris :: 0818GMT British soldiers have taken sixteen people into custody near the southern town of Safwan meanwhile after a raid on five houses which they considered to be part of the Ba'athist infrastructure in the district. Soldiers working at vehicle checkpoints at patrolling by foot in the streets are changing out of the helmets and into berets, an indication they say of improved security in the area.
Umm Qasr, Zubayr, Rumeila and Safwan -- British troops felt so secure that they swapped their combat helmets for less protective berets – Associated Press, 3:09 p.m. ET
Dominic Hughes :: 1636GMT The mine clearing operation is focusing on the port of Umm Qasr, and the channel which leads into it. The work is undertaken by ships from the Royal Navy, the US Navy, helicopters towing mine-detecting equipment, as well as scuba divers and dolphins
Clive Myrie ::1800GMT Local intelligence suggests that Iraqi paramilitaries are still active. And that they are getting their hands on weapons, possibly coming from the north east, from Basra. Attacks could be launched on local forces in the coming days.
In Baghdad
Baghdad :: Andrew Gilligan :: 0602GMT At least two targets directly associated with the ruling family were struck last night. A compound on the banks of the Tigris used by Saddam Hussein and his younger son, Qusay, and the Iraqi National Olympic Committee, base of Saddam Hussein's other son, Uday.
Tim Franks :: 0536GMT At least two targets directly associated with the ruling family were hit last night.
Two explosions hit the southern outskirts of Baghdad shortly after dawn – Washington Post
Iraqi Satellite Television said members of the 11th Division, which fought in Nasiriyah, would receive medals – Associated Press
Baghdad :: Rageh Omaar :: 1312GMT It hasn't been a very intense day of bombing here today . It is very difficult for ordinary Iraqis here now, there are no communications, the telephone exchange has been hit.
1st Marine Division in Al Kut, Diwaniyah & Central Mesopotamia
Central Iraq :: David Willis :: 0607GMT A vast convoy of American marines has now consolidated its position, having moved twenty miles closer to Baghdad.
East Of The Euphrates And South, Near Diwaniyah
Ground action shifted eastward Tuesday across the Euphrates River, with U.S. Marines killing at least 80 Iraqi soldiers and taking more than 40 prisoners in an eight-hour battle. – Associated Press
Around Diwaniyah, Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment came under fire from artillery and mortars. Hundreds of Iraqi fighters with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles were said to be inside the town. Marines with 155 mm howitzers opened fire on Iraqi positions. In addition to the Iraqi casualties, Marine Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy said U.S. forces took 44 POWs including a few Republican Guard officers. No Marine losses were reported. – Associated Press
Local officials in Hillah claimed U.S. troops and armor arrived there Tuesday and withdrew after being engaged by Iraqi Army and militia units. The Iraqis also alleged that missiles from Apache helicopters hit residential areas, killing 33 and wounding at least 300. – Associated Press
An Iraqi named Kazem Mohammed was on the road from Nasiriyah with 14 family members at the time of the explosions. He said 11 were killed when the car they were traveling in was hit and that the dead included six of his children. – Associated Press
Marines today patrolled the outskirts of Hilla. – New York Times
Near the town of Diwaniya, marines from the Eleventh Regiment fired today on Iraqi positions. – New York Times
Marine of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment, forces a handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi soldier to the ground before searching him at a detention center near the town of Diwaniyah. Marines said they captured some Republican Guard officers and killed dozens of Iraqi fighters Tuesday during a lengthy battle on the outskirts of the town of Diwaniyah. – Associated Press
Marines waged a firefight with Iraqi forces Tuesday in and around the town of Diwaniyah and took at least 20 prisoners. Marine 155mm howitzers miles away opened fire on Iraqi mortar positions, tanks and bunkers. – Associated Press
Near the town of Diwaniya, Marines from the Eleventh Regiment fired today on Iraqi positions – New York Times.
Farther To The East And South Of Kut
Earlier in the week, a journalist reported that the 1st Marines were welcomed as "liberators" in Qalat Sukkar, where they secured an important air base and townspeople led them to a huge cache of weapons. – Associated Press
First Marine Division, in central Iraq, April 1 — By midnight rows amphibious personnel carriers, light reconnaissance vehicles, and humvees mounted with rockets stretched for miles north along Route 7. towards Kut and the Republican Guard's Baghdad Division. Third Infantry Battalion of the First Regimental Combat Team involved. While Third Infantry Division and elements of the Army's 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions comes through Karbala gap, First Marine Division was to continue north on Highway 7 and engage the Iraqis at Kut. Third Marine Aircraft Wing has been pounding the Republican Guard division for the last four days. In Shatrah locals pointed out stores of ammunition and the local Baath Party operatives and their headquarters. - John Kifner, New York Times
The Baghdad Division of Iraq's Republican Guard, made up of about 10,000 troops, is targeted by U.S.-led airstrikes near the city of Kut. – Washington Post
BBC 0037: US military sources say US ground forces have begun a major engagement against the Medina and Baghdad divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard south of Baghdad.
Reuters news agency reported that Marines in Shatra shot dead an unarmed Iraqi who drove his pickup truck at high speed toward a checkpoint they were manning
two attacks by Marines of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force north of Nasiriyah near the towns of Diwaniya and Shatra joined by approximately 100 tribal men. Resulted in the captures of enemy prisoners of war, weapons, the destruction of bunkers and the removal of explosives from a bridge-and there were no friendly casualties. - Thomas W. Lippman, Washington Post [probably happened Sunday and Monday]
Nasiriyah
In Nasiriyah, civilians are now helping U.S. special forces find troops loyal to Saddam who have been killed by airstrikes – New York Times
Andrew North :: 0831GMT The US marines have come into the town and are handing out aid to the local residents. A lot of Iraqis have turned up and there is some pushing and shoving in the crowd to get supplies. They want food, water and medicines.
Adam Mynott :: 1147GMT US forces are attempting to quell lingering Iraqi resistance in the town. US 15th Marine expeditionary unit say they were on patrol in Nasiriya where it has been generally quiet for the past thirty-six hours when they spotted two T-55 tanks near a bridge over the Euphrates in the centre of town. They destroyed both tanks.
American troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, held as a prisoner of war in Iraq since she and other members of 507th Maintenance Company were ambushed March 23 near Nasiriyah . – Associated Press
Najaf, Karbala & Around Baghdad
West Of The Euphrates And South Of Karbala
BBC 0037: US military sources say US ground forces have begun a major engagement against the Medina and Baghdad divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard south of Baghdad.
Gavin Hewitt :: 1620GMT The battle for Baghdad is under way. American military now attacking the two Republican Guard divisions that are dug in around the southern approaches to the capital.
Overnight, B-52s struck at Iraqi positions around Karbala and Hindiyah. hit surface-to-air missile sites and a bridge across the Euphrates River . – Associated Press
Medina Division concentrated north of Karbala with about 20,000 soldiers and 270 T-72 tanks before the war began. The Nebuchadnezzar Division has about 10,000 soldiers. The Baghdad Division concentrated near the city of Kut with about 10,000 troops. The Al Nida and Hammurabi Divisions -- elements of which also have moved to reinforce the Medina and Baghdad -- have about 10,000 soldiers apiece as well as tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers. – Washington Post
U.S. forces entered first major ground fighting with Republican Guard troops late Tuesday around the holy city of Karbala. Earlier, U.S. forces unleashed a barrage on Medina Division around the city, 50 miles south of Baghdad with Tomahawk cruise missiles, artillery and B-52 bombers. Troops outside the city could hear the detonations as flashes from the blasts illuminated the city. – Associated Press
The plan was for the Army's Third Infantry Division to come through the Karbala gap supplemented with elements of the Army's 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. - John Kifner, New York Times
U.S-led forces battled and bombed Iraqi troops across a large arc south of Baghdad on Tuesday in anticipation of a move against the capital. fresh bombing in the area of Karbala – Associated Press 3:09 p.m. ET (20:09GMT)
A Patriot missile battery destroyed a missile fired from south of Baghdad at U.S. forces in central Iraq, said Capt. Pat Costello of the 101st Airborne Division. – Associated Press
101st is deployed around Karbala and has a sizeable force of helicopters but no heavy armour. It is being used to secure the supply lines right now but could be used as a mobile strike force. – Paul Reynolds, BBC News.
U.S. Army troops seized the southern edge of Najaf as Iraqi militia fighters appeared to retreat. Hundreds of civilians, many of them smiling and waving, lined the streets while soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division pressed to within half a mile of the tomb of Ali. Shortly before 2 p.m., Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the 101st, drove into Najaf, urged on by clapping Iraqis who gestured for the Americans to press deeper into the city center. At dawn, seven M1 Abrams tanks, accompanied by AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, drove two kilometers into the city from Checkpoint Charlie, a road crossing on the southern perimeter. U.S. troops continued to find arms caches in Najaf, including 2,000 mortar rounds, 20,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, 1,500 AK-47 assault rifles, chemical protective suits, and 25 mortars, which were discovered in a school. 1st Brigade's 2nd Battalion entered the city this morning. – Rick Atkinson, Washington Post
U.S. troops from the 3rd Infantry Division, 7th Infantry fought a fierce street-to-street battle in Hindiyah, blowing up Baath Party headquarters, destroying caches of ammunition and mortars, and killing or capturing scores of Iraqi troops. – Washington Post [Was this Monday?]
soldiers from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment rested following Monday's battle at Hindiyah – Associated Press
At least 11 civilians, most of them children, were killed when U.S. bombs hit a residential district in the town of Hilla in central Iraq overnight - Reuters reporters
Kuwait and Elsewhere
500 from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, along with Humvees and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters, departed for Kuwait by air Sunday from their base at Fort Polk, La. - Washington Post
Ryan Dilley :: 0821GMT Patriots bring down this morning's incoming Iraqi missile even before it reach Kuwaiti airspace.
half a dozen Iraqi generals have been captured and are being questioned about chemical weapons and tactical battle information. A general captured in the last 48 hours gave tactical information. – Associated Press
Northern Iraq & Kurdistan
U.S. planes attacked targets close to Kirkuk – New York Times
Paul Adams :: 1419GMT British officials here will neither confirm nor deny reports of a British operation in northern Iraq around Mosul. There are pictures being shown on Al Jazeera of British vehicles, supposedly seized in that area. The coy nature of the British response to questions about this suggest it is some sort of special forces operation that appears to have gone wrong.
al-Jazeera says Iraqis foiled a "landing attempt" by British forces at Khirbat al-Wa'r village in northern Iraq, west of Mosul. UK military officials later refused to confirm or deny the report – BBC, 12:02 GMT
Western Iraq
Army Rangers destroyed a commando headquarters a few days ago in the desert in western Iraq Karbala – Associated Press 3:09 p.m. ET