War Likely to Be Elongated

The fighting between the coalition force and the Iraqi military is getting more and more fierce. Thus, more and more people are worrying about the possibility that the war would last for months.

Hussein has deployed one of his Republican Guards units, which stationed near Baghdad, to Nasaf, 136 km south of Baghdad. On the other hand, the coalition forces, in the face of vehement resistance, are building up the military power.

Into the 8th day of the war, or March 26 local time, the Central Command resumed air raid on Baghdad. Now, even behind the front line, the coalition forces are fighting the militia`s guerrilla attacks and sand storm.

Due to the bombing continuing ever since the outbreak, at least 30 civilians were reportedly killed and another 400 wounded in Baghdad.

In Nasaf, the two forces have been fighting fiercely for four days. Thus, the Iraqi military command has augmented its forces in Nasaf with thousands of Republican Guards troops. Therefore, a large battle is expected to take place soon in that area. The US Central Command has announced that its forces have killed about 1,000 Iraqi solders in the region.

On the other hand, Iraqi military spokesperson alleged on the state-run TV that the Iraqi Republican Guards attacked the coalition forces along the Euphrates River on March 26, and destroyed six armored vehicles and killed many American and British solders. In addition, the strongest Republican Guards got engaged with the coalition forces on the same day for the first time since the outbreak of the war, and blew a severe damage to American and British solders, alleged the Iraqi army.

The Untied States has been beefing up its military power in Iraq. It has been stationing its Fourth Infantry Division in Kuwait, and sent some 1,000 solders air-born to northern Iraq.

On March 26, US President George W. Bush encouraged US troops faced with hard resistance from Iraq, and hinted that the war could last longer than expected.

In the meanwhile, U.N. Secretary of General Kopi Annan urged on Wednesday that both parties to the war should protect civilians and abide by the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war.