A top US military commander has warned Iraqi civilians that since much of their country was now a battlefield they should stay at home and avoid taking their cars on the roads, as a safety precaution, reports Deaglán de Bréadún in Doha, Qater.
"The battlefield extends across the country now," Maj Gen Victor Renuart of the US Air Force, director of operations at US Central Command (Centcom) told a news conference yesterday at Camp As Sayliyah, near the capital of Qatar.
"We have forces in all parts of the country. It's really not safe for the Iraqi people to try to leave the cities and drive away to avoid danger. It's much better for them to remain in their homes, remain in their towns, remain in their villages."
He said ordinary Iraqis "should remain calm, should avoid being in or close to any military formations, any military equipment or headquarters, or any building associated with the regime leadership, its command and control communications.
"And maybe equally as important is to stay off the roads, don't get out in your vehicles and drive around. The battlefield is a very hazardous location, and we must continue to ask all the civilians in Iraq to remain in their towns and homes because it is very difficult to guarantee their safety on this battlefield."
But he said the allies were not declaring Iraq a "no-drive zone". US and British forces were going to great lengths "to ensure that the most precise targeting possible is used". But he added: "There are errors that occur. Some percentage of the weapons we use will err from their targets."
Maj Gen Renuart said US air strikes had destroyed six devices aimed at jamming the global positions system (GPS) used by US forces in their air campaign in Iraq. Earlier, Washington had accused Russia of supplying jamming equipment to the Iraqis, raising tensions between the two countries.
"We have noticed some attempts by the Iraqis to use a GPS jamming system that they obtained from another nation. We have destroyed all six of those jammers in the last two nights' airstrikes. I'm pleased to say they had no effect on us."
The allied forces were "on track" in the drive towards Baghdad despite sandstorms. "The dark days are probably coming for the dark side, and Saddam's regime has more dark days ahead than we do," he said.
Allied forces were continuing to "maintain and increase pressure on all fronts, even in the bad weather", he said.
"It's a little bit ugly out there today. Weather has had an impact - wind, rain, thunderstorms. It's not been a terribly comfortable day on the battlefield. However, that hasn't stopped us."
Brig Gen Vincent Brooks showed video footage of US forces parachuting into Iraq and taking a desert airstrip in an undisclosed location. He also said Iraqi forces had been hiding weapons next to civilian buildings.
Maj Gen Renuart said the allies were building prisoner-of-war camps for Iraqi prisoners which US officials have estimated to number more than 3,000. He said the International Committee of the Red Cross would have full access to the camps.
Marines fighting the Iraqi army and Saddam Fedayeen militia around the southern city of Nassiriya "did suffer some casualties", he said, but he refused to give numbers or other details until families were told.
"I'd like to not confirm numbers because we are still assuring that proper notification has been done." He also could not be specific about the numbers of Iraqis killed or wounded.