Daring raid frees PoW girl

The dramatic details of the military operation to free teenage American PoW Jessica Lynch were revealed this morning.

As the 19-year-old lay badly wounded in a hospital bed, special forces units staged her rescue during a massive diversionary attack on the city of Nasiriyah, where she had been taken prisoner more than a week ago.

While helicopter-borne troops stormed the hospital, soldiers in tanks and armoured personnel carriers hit targets in the centre of the key city and seized a vital bridge over the Euphrates.

Laying down a barrage of machine gun fire, under the cover of darkness masked navy Seals and army Rangers attacked the building. Private Lynch was snatched to safety and taken by helicopter for emergency medical treatment.

Jim Wilkinson, a civilian spokesman for Central Command, said: "America doesn't leave its heroes behind. It never has, it never will."

The raid was personally ordered by General Tommy Franks after troops were told that their colleague - one of 15 listed as missing more than a week ago in an Iraqi ambush - was alive.

Only a handful of people worked for two days on the secret plans to rescue the teenager from West Virginia.

The operation was put into action at midnight local time as the Seals and Rangers, backed by marines, stormed the complex near Nasariyah where Pte Lynch was being held.

They charged through the buildings, known to have been under the control of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen loyalists, and found the missing maintenance soldier in part of the hospital.

Within minutes she was hurried to a waiting Paveway helicopter, guarded from the air by four Apache helicopter gunships and with two A10 "Warthog" tankbusters flying above in case of an attack by Iraqi armour.

Despite suffering gunshot wounds when she was taken prisoner on 23 March, she was able to walk to the waiting helicopter and is today being treated at a field hospital behind the front lines. Her condition is still being determined.

As she was being taken to safety, the massive diversionary attack destroyed Iraqi artillery positions with virtually no resistance from the enemy.

Simultaneous air strikes destroyed a series of targets - including the local Ba'ath party headquarters, which came under fire at the same time from some of the marines' heavy artillery.

And also targeted were the home of a Ba'ath party official, the headquarters of the Fedayeen militia who are thought to have taken Pte Lynch captive, and a telecommunications station. A source said: "These were all destroyed."

However, the astonishing rescue came with a grim discovery of a group of up to 11 bodies in shallow graves which American officials fear could be those of other members of her unit, some of whom were paraded on Iraqi state television after they were taken prisoner.

Mr Wilkinson added: "I can't get into operational details, but we have a lot more work to do.

"We have a lot more PoWs that we are still worried about."

Specialist teams are today examining the remains to determine if they are the missing troops, and if so, identify them and return their bodies to waiting families.

Pte Lynch and 10 of her colleagues from an army supply convoy were listed as missing after taking a wrong turning in Nasariyah and driving into an Iraqi ambush.

Some of the dead bodies of the missing soldiers were seen on Iraqi television at the same time as five other

prisoners from the 507th Maintenance Unit were shown on camera and forced to answer questions shouted offcamera.

In spite of their daughter appearing in none of the grim footage, her family and home town of Palestine had never given up hope, and today was celebrating her dramatic rescue.

As well-wishers packed the family home and police and fire engine sirens blared outside in celebration, her father Greg Lynch said:
"The military notified me that my daughter was rescued. I am very happy."

Cousin Sherri McFee said "the biggest party this road had ever seen" was taking place and added: "We all remained hopeful and knew she would be home." And Pat Nicolais, another cousin, said: "You would not believe the joys, cries, bawling, hugging, screaming and carrying on." In the town yellow ribbons had been tied around a sycamore tree which residents dubbed the "tree of hope", while locals had held candlelit vigils

At the White House, President Bush was told two hours before the news was revealed to the American public and replied: "That's great."

The teenager will undergo extensive debriefing in the wake of her capture, especially as commanders want to find out what happened to her fellow soldiers.

Among those missing from the unit is another young woman, 22-year-old Private Lori Piestewa.

Pte Lynch had joined the army to get an education, escape the high unemployment of her home town in one of America's poorest states, and help fulfil her dream of being a teacher.

She was sent to Iraq from her unit's base at Fort Bliss in Texas and was driving towards the American front lines with supplies when her vehicle, along with a series of others, drove straight into Nasiriyah's "ambush alley".

Her rescue highlights the role of the JPRA unit, dubbed the "no man left behind unit".

The newly-formed command has at its disposal every part of America's daunting armoury, including its own helicopters, and access to special forces including the Seals, Rangers, and Delta Force, America's equivalent of the SAS.

A total of 15 other Americans are formally listed as missing, seven of them as prisoners of war.

The other PoWs include two army Apache helicopter pilots captured on 24 March after their helicopter suffered a hard landing in enemy territory.

And they also include the five members of Pte Lynch's unit seen on Iraqi television.