Baghdad, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and U.K. troops pushed into southern Iraq, securing the Faw peninsula and moving through the main streets of Basra, as about 30 oil wells blazed after the campaign to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein moved into its second day. In the north, U.S. special forces took oilfields around Kirkuk and the nearby airport of Bamerni, Abu Dhabi Television news said, citing its correspondent. The report that the Kirkuk oilfields had been taken was unconfirmed, the British Broadcasting Corp. said. Fifty cruise missiles hit Baghdad in a second night of strikes, U.K. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said. U.S. Marines advanced into southern Iraq after a bombardment by warplanes and artillery. The Faw peninsula was secured by U.K. Royal Marines, Hoon said. ``I'm very pleased for the way things are going,'' Hoon said.
The allied movements in the north and the south came amid conflicting intelligence reports on whether Hussein had been killed in Thursday night's opening assault on Baghdad. Hussein is safe, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Al-Sahaf said at a press conference broadcast by the BBC. A former mistress of Hussein's, who is now in exile in the U.S., told allied intelligence officials that the person speaking in the latest video and purported to be Hussein isn't him, the U.K.'s Sky News reported, citing unidentified U.S. officials. Israeli experts who analyzed the voice on the tape said it is Hussein's, suggesting he survived U.S. missile strikes on Baghdad, Sky said.
Hussein Family
Hussein and possibly one or both of his sons were still inside a compound in southern Baghdad that was struck by a number of U.S. bombs and cruise missiles yesterday, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified U.S. intelligence officials. It isn't clear whether the Iraqi leader was killed, injured or escaped the attack, the newspaper said in its online edition, citing senior officials in U.S. President George W. Bush's administration. Allied troops may be in Baghdad in three or four days, the BBC said, citing an unidentified U.K. military official. Eight B- 52 bombers, carrying bombs and which may also be loaded with cruise missiles, took off from a U.K. airbase in western England, with a flight time of at least five hours to reach striking range of Iraq. In the south, as many as 30 oil wells are on fire, Hoon told the BBC. In the 1991 Persian Gulf war, Iraqi troops set fire to Kuwaiti oil wells as they were pushed out by U.S.-led forces sent to free the emirate from Iraqi occupation. Oil well fires can take months to be extinguished.
U.S. Units
Three U.S. units moved from Kuwait into southern Iraq late yesterday, one reconnaissance force driving 200 kilometers (125 miles) into Iraqi territory, the BBC reported. One U.S. Marine unit met resistance from Iraqi forces shortly after it crossed the border, it said. Iraqi oil-well heads are burning at the Rumaila field near the Kuwait border, unidentified military officials said. ``The black cloud seen covering the skies of Kuwait is caused by the burning of oil wells in southern Iraq, set ablaze by Iraqi forces,'' Kuwait's KUNA news service cited the head of the national environmental agency, Mohammed al-Sarawi, as saying. The progress of the current campaign means there may be a change in the ``shock and awe'' strategy of massive bombardment initially planned, U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said. ``So far, there's been very little resistance to our troops in the south,'' Straw told the BBC. ``I very much hope it will not be necessary to use any kind of massive bombardment. It remains to be seen whether it will be.''
U.S. Flag
U.S. troops raised the U.S. flag over Umm Qasr, said. Three U.S. units moved from Kuwait into southern Iraq late yesterday, one reconnaissance force driving 200 kilometers (125 miles) into Iraqi territory, the BBC reported. One U.S. Marine unit met resistance from Iraqi forces shortly after it crossed the border, it said. The U.S. military is talking to members of Iraq's Republican Guard and the regular army to try to get them to surrender, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday. British troops carried out an amphibious assault on the Faw peninsula south of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the BBC said. Scores of Iraqi soldiers are surrendering to the U.K. forces in southern Iraq, it reported. Australian Special Forces troops are also deployed inside Iraq, U.K. Brigadier Mike Hannan said. In northern Iraq, explosions were heard in and around Mosul, the country's third-largest city, CNN said. Explosions were heard near Basra, Sky News reported. Coalition forces suffered their first casualties in the war when a U.S. military transport helicopter crashed in Kuwait killing 12 servicemen. The helicopter was carrying eight U.K. Royal Marines and four U.S. aircrew, U.K. lieutenant Ben Curry said in a televised statement.
Iraqi Defections
Rumsfeld said he had ``broad evidence'' that many Iraqi soldiers are ready to surrender. ``We are in communication with still more officials of the military -- regular army, Republican Guard, Special Republican Guard, who are increasingly aware it's going to happen, he's going to be gone,'' Rumsfeld said, referring to Hussein. Iraq's people won't surrender in the face of ``U.S.-British propaganda to weaken their morale,'' AFP cited Hussein as saying in a statement carried by national television. Iraq fired at least 10 missiles at northern Kuwait since the missile attacks began on Baghdad, the BBC said. Patriot missiles intercepted some of the rockets, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement. //www.quote.bloomberg.com