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War Tracker: April 18, 2003
Forces



WAR UPDATE BATTLEFIELD
GROUND WAR
Saddam tapes: U.S. intelligence analysts on Friday were examining a videotape and an audiotape message said to have been made by deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on April 9, the day Baghdad fell to U.S. troops. Full Story
Official in custody: Baath Party official Samir abd al Aziz al Najim -- No. 24 on U.S. Central Command's 55 most wanted list -- was handed over to the coalition's Special Operations forces by Iraqi Kurds last night, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said Friday. On the most wanted list, Najim is listed as the party's regional command chairman for the Baghdad district and Brooks said he is believed to have firsthand knowledge of party operations. Full Story | Details: Special Operations Forces
Samarra firefight: Soldiers with the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division battled Iraqi paramilitary fighters Friday as the division was moving north between Taji and Samarra, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said during Friday's Central Command briefing. Eight technical vehicles -- civilian vehicles modified with military weaponry -- were destroyed and more than 30 prisoners were captured, Brooks said.
Airstrike excavation: No remains have been identified at the site of an airstrike aimed at deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Brooks said.
Fewer casualties: As the fighting winds down, U.S.-led coalition deaths so far in this war with Iraq are far fewer than those killed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. As of Friday, 157 U.S. and British troops had died in the war, less than half the 358 coalition deaths in Desert Storm. Full Story | List of coalition fatalities
WMD hunt: The U.S. is sending a 1,000-person "Iraq Survey Group" into Iraq to begin the next phase of looking for weapons of mass destruction, and conduct other intelligence tasks, Pentagon officials said Thursday. The group, likely led by a U.S. general, will be made of up civilian scientists, government intelligence analysts, military personnel and private contractors. It will be based in Iraq. Full Story
Kirkuk graves: As many as 1,600 shallow graves found on the edge of a military base in Kirkuk could provide answers to the whereabouts of Iraqis who disappeared under the Hussein regime. Local residents exhumed two bodies Wednesday in an effort to find out who is buried at the site. The residents told CNN the graves are at least 12 years old. Full Story
Gallery: War photos | Map: Troop movements
CASUALTIES
Coalition: 158 coalition deaths reported, including 127 U.S. troops and 31 British soldiers and marines.
List of coalition fatalities
Wounded: At least 495 U.S. service members have been wounded. No numbers are available for British forces.
Iraq: Iraq has not released details of military casualties. U.S. military officials have reported thousands of Iraqi military deaths. Abu Dhabi TV, quoting official Iraqi sources, reported that 1,252 Iraqi civilians have been killed and 5,103 wounded. CNN cannot verify those figures.
POWs/MIAs
Missing or captured: Two U.S. service members remain listed as missing in action.
Coalition POWs/MIAs
Former POWS: Seven U.S. soldiers waved and smiled Friday from a balcony at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, their first official appearance since U.S. Marines rescued them from Iraqi guards who held them as prisoners of war for three weeks.
Iraqi POWs: U.S. and British forces have released 887 prisoners of war since the beginning of the war because they were determined to be non-combatants, Pentagon officials said Friday. Roughly 6,800 Iraqi soldiers remain in coalition custody, according to U.S. Central Command.

CAUSE OF U.S. WAR DEATHS

Source: CNN, Pentagon. * Number as of April 18, 2003
ON THE SCENE
Robertson: Saddam's last hideout
Amin: Iraqis not thinking of Abu Abbas
Bellini: Iraqi boy faces long recovery
Vause: Divisions over new government
Clancy: Museum 'shattered' by looters
Chilcote: Probe into labs continues
MacVicar: 'War of words' with Syria
More On the Scene reports
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF
Baghdad zoo: The Baghdad zoo was not spared from the war as deserted animals were forced to fend for themselves, likely terrified from the sound of gunfire. When U.S. forces came through, one soldier said it was hard to believe what they had found. Full Story |  Video
Iraqi boy in Kuwait: A 12-year-old Iraqi boy who lost his arms and most of his family in a coalition bombing raid near Baghdad arrived in Kuwait early Wednesday for treatment. Full Story
Audio Slide Show: Looting in Iraq
Gallery: A visit to Kifri
STRATEGY
Explore U.S. war plans and tactics
with CNN's military analysts

Kennedy: Gathering intelligence
Shepperd: Efforts imposing order
Shepperd: Freed POWs need help
Shepperd: Cleanup and one last battle
Animation: Urban combat | More battle scenarios
LAST SEVEN DAYS
April 17: U.S. steps up WMD hunt in Iraq
April 16: Tension in Mosul
April 15: Powell: No plans for war beyond Iraq
April 14: U.S.: 'Major combat' over
April 13: Battle for Tikrit
April 12: Tikrit next target
April 11: Bush: Saddam 'no longer in power'
Archive »

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