>+++ Однако, по сведениям РБК колонна выдвигается в сторону Насирии, а не Наджафа. Это ИНТЕРЕСНЕЙ. Если почтенный дядька Хамураппи сможет сбить Маринсов под Насирией, то могут появиться РЕАЛЬНЫЕ шансы на разгром 3-й мехдивизии ЮСов под Наджафом. А если и нет - то рейд по "ниточке" снабжения и прочим тылам американских войск с известными последствиями. После чего можно будет до окончания бури (говорят до выходных продлиться) смыться обратно в Междуречье.
Рейды уже начались...
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SOUTHERN IRAQ, March 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. Marines supply convoy came under attack in southern Iraq on Wednesday in a firefight lasting some 30 minutes, a Reuters reporter with the convoy said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in what the U.S. troops called a coordinated attack carried out by unidentified assailants from several different directions.
Reuters correspondent Matthew Green said the attack started with a sudden burst of automatic weapons fire during a routine stop which sent the troops diving for firing positions.
They used machineguns, mortars and anti-tank missiles as tanks arrived to support the convoy which was halted on a road north of the southern town of Nassiriya.
"I had eight rounds come over the top of me," one U.S. serviceman told Reuters as the firefight ended and the convoy moved on. "You could see the muzzle flashes."
The convoy of some 80 vehicles was carrying fuel, food and ammunition in support of the U.S.-led war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
During the firefight, outgoing mortar rounds thudded repeatedly in the distance while jeeps mounted with launchers fired anti-tank missiles which detonated a few seconds after being fired with a bright blue flash.
U.S. medics, monitoring radios for news of casualties, crouched for cover behind military ambulances. They had no reports of casualties.
Several Marine tanks, one with the words "War Pig" written on its barrel, rumbled along the road and into undergrowth to hunt down the attackers and the convoy resumed its journey.
The troops said a thick dust haze had made it difficult for combat helicopters that normally support the convoy to engage the attackers.
Helicopter pilots had earlier spotted at least two vehicles carrying civilians near the roadside. The vehicles were later found, empty, they said.
((Reporting by Matthew Green, writing by John Baggaley, edited by Richard Meares))
