BAGHDAD, April 5 (UPI) -- A top Iraqi official said Iraqi forces have expelled coalition forces from Saddam International Airport and regained complete control, despite the report of U.S. officials that no such thing had occurred.
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said Saturday Iraqi forces from the Republican Guards attacked and repulsed the coalition forces during fierce overnight fighting a day after they landed in the airport.
U.S. forces said that such claims are "groundless."
"Today, we slaughtered the force which dared and was at the runaway of the airport. Now they are outside the faraway airport fence," al-Sahhaf told reporters in Baghdad. "The heroic Republican Guards are now in control of the airport's land in full."
He said the coalition soldiers were being surrounded in the area of Abu Graib where they are still trying to fire what's left of their light artillery and rocket-propelled grenades while "the other columns could not establish any contact with the besieged force."
"Now, we are pounding them with missiles and heavy artillery and we are surprising them with new operations," he said. "In fact, RG forces, Saddam Fedayeen combatants and Arab martyrdom (suicide) attackers carried out new innovative operations last night. I mean martyrdom (attacks) and new kinds of fighting."
He said the coalition force at the airport was "crushed" and that their "losses, bodies and destroyed vehicles are numerous." He added that there were many killed among the coalition soldiers whose bodies are still in the airport's ground and he was to give more appropriate information later once the cleaning operations are over.
"The Republican Guards is now in complete control of the airport's ground. The battle continues outside the airport and this surrounded force will be slaughtered in full," al-Sahhaf said. He promised the journalists to escort them to the airport as soon as the Iraqi forces complete cleaning the area.
Al-Sahhaf said another battle took place on the dam of Al-Qaddisiya near the al-Hudaitha area at dawn and in the morning whereby the other Iraqi forces attacked coalition troops and "surrounded them...." He said four armored personnel carriers were destroyed.
On the southern front, al-Sahhaf said two coalition columns tried to attack the city of Basra but were repulsed by Iraqi forces, tribesmen, Baath Party and Saddam Fedayeen combatants. Seven tanks were destroyed and the coalition forces retreated.
He said Iraqis also shot down a combat jet but no additional details were yet available.
"The whole trend has been changed. The operation is moving in our interests. We are going to finalize soon," al-Sahhaf said, promising to crush coalition forces outside the airport and in al-Hudaitha.
He invited journalists to go to the Baghdad's neighborhoods of al-Dora and Yarmouk which were reportedly entered by coalition forces.
"Why not to go and visit the places. Nothing there at all. There are Iraqi checkpoints," he said.
Al-Jazeera reported that foreign journalists in Baghdad have confirmed that no U.S. forces have been seen in central and western Baghdad.
Meanwhile, several television stations showed footage of American tanks entering what appeared to be parts of Baghdad as Iraqi civilians stood cautiously by, some of them waving to American troops.
(Dalal Saoud in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.)
