US will bomb elite Iraqis

More than 1,000 Republican Guards were reported to be heading south today for a showdown in the desert with allied forces advancing on Baghdad.

US planes were scrambled to destroy the column of Iraqi troops as it swept towards a group of American marines. The Iraqi column came from Kut, south-east of Baghdad, and was heading towards Nasiriyah. The air attack was being hampered by the worst sandstorm seen by coalition forces. Pilots will be forced to drop almost to ground level before using their weapons.

A senior military source said: "There will not be a ground engagement with these forces, it will be an air engagement. It will be tricky because of the weather but we have the ability to do it."

The dramatic development came as details emerged of the bloodiest battle of the war so far, which saw at least 750 Iraqi troops killed in 24 hours of fighting near the holy city of Najaf in the Euphrates valley, 95 miles south of Baghdad.

Although first reports suggested there were no American dead, intelligence sources in Washington said it was feared the Allies may have taken "heavy casualties". The battle at Najaf was continuing with further skirmishes today.

US Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks said this afternoon allied forces had taken "well over" 4,000 Iraqi prisoners. He said commanders were "comfortable" with the way the campaign was going.

In Baghdad today, after a heavy aerial bombardment, at least 30 civilians were killed and many more injured when two missiles struck a block of flats and bombs hit a market.

Brigadier-General Brooks told reporters he had no confirmation that coalition bombs caused the carnage. Asked what else could have caused it, he said: "We have seen a number of things which tell us that what meets the eye isn't always necessarily true," appearing to hint Iraqi forces could have been responsible.

The air raids on Baghdad intensified this afternoon with several heavy explosions hitting the south-east of the city in a 15-minute period.

As news of the civilian casualties became clear, the Iraqis appeared to be taking a more direct approach to the conflict rather than waiting for the allied advance. They began blowing up bridges today, holding up the allied convoy at two choke points outside Najaf and at Ash Shatra on the main road from Nasiriyah.

That coincided with the move south by part of the Republican Guard's estimated 36,000-strong force, entrenched in three positions around Baghdad. The tactic is expected to hold up US troops. "It will take them at least seven days more to get to Baghdad now," said Major Charles Heyman of the Jane's Information Group.

US units appear to be shifting their strategy because of the attacks from Iraqi militia. Instead of racing to Baghdad, some units are moving slower to clear pockets of opposition. "We're going into a hunting mode right now," said Lieutenant-Colonel B T McCoy of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. "We're going to start hunting down instead of letting them take the cheap shots."

The allied progress north continued on two main fronts. One is through Najaf to Karbala 50 miles south-west of Baghdad, where the US 3rd Infantry Division is already using heavy artillery against Republican Guards. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is taking a more central route to Baghdad from Nasiriyah. The Iraqi government said around 500 civilians had been wounded during the fighting at Nasiriyah.

In the south, British paratroops were taking on Iraqi paramilitaries fleeing the city of Basra, where civilians staged an uprising against Saddam's regime overnight.

Military intelligence officials say Iraqi troops turned mortar fire on their own civilians in an attempt to crush the revolt, and there were reports of a bloodbath. British troops on the edge of Basra destroyed the ruling Ba'ath party headquarters.

Seven trucks carrying food and water for Iraqi civilians reached the southern port of Umm Qasr today.