Kuwait says its Patriot anti-missile battery shot down one of possible two Iraqi missiles believed Scuds fired at US Ali Salem air base north of Kuwait City Thursday
Battle rages south of Basra second day Thursday as US-British artillery and warplanes pound large Iraqi tank column on way from Basra to Faw Peninsula to recover lost ground. UK spokesman reports 14 Iraqi tanks destroyed.
Southward breakouts of Special Republican Guards from Baghdad area reported Wednesday night and Thursday
DEBKAfile: Fresh movements indicate Saddam has switched tactics - sending elite forces to meet advancing US troops head-on outside Baghdad. Al Medina Division heading towards Najef, Nebuchadnezzar moving towards al Kut
US 101st Airborne steals march, turns up west of Karbala after quiet advance from Kuwait along Iraqi-Saudi frontier.
DEBKAfile: Its mission is to open and secure front line west of Baghdad - first engaging Special Republican Guards Hamourabi Division, crossing Euphrates and taking over Baghdad?s Saddam Hussein International Airport
1000 US paratroops land under cover of dark early Thursday night at Harir airfield northwest of Kurdish town of Irbil. DEBKAfile: Parachutists from 173rd Airborne Brigade based in northern Italy
Large Iraqi column of military vehicles is still moving south towards Najef in central Iraq, scene of earlier battle with US troops in which Iraqis sustained hundreds of losses.
http://www.debka.com