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Huge explosions baghdad power out { April 3 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.dailyherald.com/cook/main_story.asp?intID=37714390http://www.dailyherald.com/cook/main_story.asp?intID=37714390
Huge explosions in Baghdad's outskirts; power goes out in capital
Associated Press
Posted April 03, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraqi capital plunged into darkness Thursday night as loud explosions thundered through the outskirts of Baghdad. The entire city appeared to be without power.
The blasts persisted for nearly 15 minutes before the power went off at about 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) _ the first widespread electrical failure in Baghdad since the U.S.-led bombardment began two weeks ago.
The reason for the loss of power was not immediately clear. However, U.S. troops were reported to be 24 kilometers (15 miles) south of the center of Baghdad.
Earlier Thursday, as U.S. forces advanced toward the capital, Saddam Hussein exhorted Iraqis to "fight them with your hands," according to a statement read Thursday on Iraqi satellite television.
The statement, addressed to the people of the region southeast of Baghdad, was read by Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf. Saddam hasn't delivered a speech on TV since March 24, and it is unclear when the address was recorded.
"Fight them with your hands, God will disgrace them. God is great," Thursday's statement said.
At a news conference, al-Sahhaf disputed coalition claims of battle successes. "All this is to cover their disappointment and inability," he said.
"They are not even 100 miles (160 kilometers)" away from Baghdad, he said earlier. "They are not anywhere. They are like a snake moving in the desert. They have no foothold in Iraq. ... They do not even control Umm Qasr," the information minister said, referring to the southern port city held by British forces.
Al-Sahhaf said Republican Guard forces battled coalition troops in the area south of Kut and "taught them lessons, a catastrophe," inflicting heavy casualties and forcing a coalition retreat. "We buried a lot of them today," he said.
He also claimed Iraqi forces had killed scores of coalition troops on Wednesday at Basra in the south.
"We're now trying to exhaust them, making them more tired until our leadership decides the time and method to clean our territory of their desecration," al-Sahhaf said.
Meanwhile, the air assault on Baghdad continued. The site of Baghdad's old airport was struck overnight by coalition aircraft. The target appeared to be a row of tin shelters which stretch for more than a kilometer (a mile) where the Trade Ministry stores hundreds of imported cars.
Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh accused coalition forces of breaking into Iraqi warehouses and stealing children's milk and supplies.
A large blast shook Baghdad at about 11 a.m. (0800 GMT), but it was unclear what caused it.
Traffic clogged the streets of the capital Thursday morning. Foreign journalists were taken to the International Baghdad Trade Fair grounds Thursday, a day after airstrikes hit the upscale al-Mansour district. The center hosts an annual trade show, one of the Arab world's largest.
Journalists were not allowed inside the compound but extensive destruction was evident from the outside, with buildings as deep as 500 meters (yards) away from the outer wall razed to the ground.
Slabs of concrete, mangled corrugated iron, wires, light fixtures and air conditioning units lay scattered across the ground. Many trees were felled. One building had an entire section of its wall missing, revealing hundreds of sacks labeled to contain tea. It was not immediately clear why tea was stored there.
The headquarters of Iraqi intelligence, which have already been hit more than once by coalition aircraft, are located behind the complex. Security was tight in the area, with some dozen heavily armed security men guarding the site.
The crater on the ground was the size of a volleyball court and the force of the blast shattered the windows and doors of the Red Crescent Maternity Hospital across the road.
It was still unclear where Saddam was, and why he has not appeared live on television. When asked about the president, Saleh laughed.
"I think you have seen his picture," he said, referring to silent footage that aired Wednesday of a smiling Saddam chairing a Cabinet meeting. "He is very calm, confident."
Source: The Associated Press
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