Sunday, April 6, 2003 Posted: 2:21 PM EDT (1821 GMT)CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The first U.S. military planes landed at Baghdad's international airport Sunday night as U.S. forces tightened their control over the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officials said.

Army officials told CNN's Walter Rodgers that two C-130s and a C-117 cargo planes were flying into the city under the cover of darkness, two days after U.S. troops captured the facility.

U.S. Marines and Army forces control all roads into and out of Baghdad, encircling the city, according to Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"It is a huge perimeter," Pace said on CNN's "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer." "I don't want your viewers to think there's a soldier every 10 or 15 feet. But we do control all the roads."

Forces from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division made reconnaissance forays into Baghdad for the second day Sunday and faced sporadic resistance, said CNN's Rodgers, who is embedded with the division's 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry. (On the Scene)

U.S. Central Command said more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded Saturday when coalition forces swept through Baghdad on initial reconnaissance missions.

At a briefing Sunday at Central Command headquarters in Qatar, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said the coalition force "continues to isolate Baghdad, denying any reinforcements or any escape by regime military forces."

Another Central Command spokesman said Iraqi forces were using the Mother of All Battles Mosque and Saddam Hospital -- both on the coalition's "no-strike" list in Baghdad -- as bases of military operations.

Marines have raided a camp in the town of Salman Pak used to train non-Iraqi fighters in terror tactics, said Brooks, adding that coalition forces have encountered a number of non-Iraqi troops in battle.

"Some came from Sudan ... Egypt," he said. "We've killed a number of them, and we've captured a number of them."

Meanwhile, a column of U.S. Marine Corps vehicles moved slowly north Sunday morning toward Baghdad, taking aim at small pockets of resistance.

The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines was held back for part of the night by heavy fighting, reported CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge, who is embedded with the unit.

Iraq contends it is making progress in resisting U.S. forces. At a briefing, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf talked of the destruction of tanks and armored personnel carriers and the downing of two Apache helicopters.

Denying that U.S. troops are occupying Baghdad's airport, al-Sahaf said, "The enemy was destroyed and retreated." He said U.S. forces got close enough to the airport to make it look as if they were there but that reports of U.S. troops in the area were nothing more than "propaganda."
Possible friendly fire

Military officials were investigating two possible incidents of friendly fire on Sunday.

In northern Iraq, an errant U.S. airstrike killed 18 Kurdish Peshmerga guerrillas and wounded 45 more, including the brother of Kurdish Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani, a spokesman for the KDP said Sunday. (Full story)

It is believed that U.S. special forces also were traveling in the convoy, and some might have been among the casualties, Kurdish sources said.

Central Command said it is investigating reports that coalition aircraft "may have engaged" Special Operations and friendly Kurdish ground forces around 12:15 p.m. (4:15 a.m. EDT), about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of the northern city of Mosul.

In addition, U.S. Central Command said Sunday that three U.S. servicemen were killed and five others injured in a "possible friendly fire incident involving an F-15E Strike Eagle and coalition ground forces." Military officials said the names of those involved were being withheld until notification of next of kin. No other information was available.

Meanwhile, officials also were looking into an attack Sunday on a convoy carrying Russian diplomats and journalists, including Russia's ambassador to Iraq, as it headed for the Syrian border, U.S. and Russian officials said. Russian officials said five people were injured in the attack, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) outside Baghdad. The injuries were minor, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. (Full story)

According to U.S. Central Command, the convoy came under attack in territory controlled by the Iraqi government. U.S. officials also said no coalition forces were in the area at the time.
Other developments

? To the south, British Col. Chris Vernon said three British battle groups were pushing toward the center of Basra, Iraq's second largest city, where coalition forces continue to battle pockets of resistance. CNN Correspondent Diana Muriel, embedded with British troops, said the forces encountered little resistance after an early morning raid into Basra, and they set about taking up strategic positions to secure the city.

? President Bush plans to travel to Northern Ireland, where he will meet Monday and Tuesday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. They are expected to discuss the military situation in Iraq as well as the U.S. plan to set up a post-war government. Bush and Blair also are expected to discuss peace efforts in the Middle East and Northern Ireland.
[British military engineers detonate Iraqi antitank mines Sunday around a bridge crossing north of Basra.]
British military engineers detonate Iraqi antitank mines Sunday around a bridge crossing north of Basra.

? U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice arrived Sunday in Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials. Rice is expected to discuss Iraq with Russian officials even as President Vladimir Putin has softened Moscow's criticism of the U.S.-led war.

? The body of the man who guarded Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majeed was found in the rubble of an airstrike that destroyed al-Majeed's home, a U.S. military official said Sunday. There is no confirmation that al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering Iraqi forces to use chemical weapons on Kurds in 1988, was killed when coalition aircraft destroyed his home Saturday night in Basra.

? Search-and-rescue efforts continued Sunday in central Iraq for the pilot of an F/A-18C Hornet that crashed Wednesday over central Iraq, according to Central Command. Central Command said Thursday that a Patriot air defense missile may have mistakenly shot down the U.S. Navy attack jet.

CNN Correspondents Jill Dougherty, James Martone, Tom Mintier, Diana Muriel, Nic Robertson, Walter Rodgers, Brent Sadler, Martin Savidge and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

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