Search results for

Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces take control of a key mountaintop overlooking the Iraqi-held city of Mosul, a senior Kurdish official says. He says it is the most important gain in the region thus far, and has opened the way for troops to enter Mosul. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

U.S. officials say Saddam Hussein's regime appears to have lost hold of Baghdad, though some fighting continues. Security forces and government officials have disappeared, replaced by looters, and a crowd of Iraqi citizens, with th help of a U.S. Marine vehicle, topples a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks says the regime "is in disarray and much of Iraq is free from years of oppression." Hear NPR News.

U.S. special forces troops and Kurdish fighters enter Mosul after the Iraqi army abandons the northern city. Widespread looting and celebrations are now under way. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

U.S. forces move to secure cities and oil fields in the north, attacking the city of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birthplace and base of power. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says much work remains in Iraq, including recovering prisoners of war, searching for weapons of mass destruction and capturing or accounting for the Iraqi leader. Hear NPR's Scott Horsley.

Two Shia clerics, one returning from exile and the other a Saddam loyalist, are hacked to death in the holiest mosque in Najaf. Observers fear the deaths could be the first round of bloodletting among rival Shia groups jockeying for power in post-Saddam Iraq. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

U.S. officials say Saddam Hussein's regime appears to have lost hold of Baghdad, but caution there may be additional fighting ahead. From Qatar, U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks says the situation in Iraq has reached a "tipping point" and that the population is beginning to recognize the Iraqi regime is "coming to an end." Hear NPR's Nick Spicer.

As signs of government authority in Baghdad disappear, hundreds of Iraqi civilians take to the streets, cheering U.S. soldiers and ripping up posters of Saddam Hussein. But many loot government buildings throughout the Iraqi capital. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels and NPR's Nick Spicer.

U.S. military strategy for controlling Baghdad appears to involve the Army moving in from the west and the Marines from the east. But it was another day of bloody urban warfare in the capital. Hundreds of civilians are reported wounded or killed, and three journalists die. Hear reports from NPR's Anne Garrels and NPR's Mike Shuster.

Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces take control of a key mountaintop overlooking the Iraqi-held city of Mosul, a senior Kurdish official says. He says it is the most important gain in the region thus far, and has opened the way for troops to enter Mosul. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

U.S. officials say Saddam Hussein's regime appears to have lost hold of Baghdad. Security forces desert the streets, replaced by looters, and government officials have disappeared, though some fighting continues. From Qatar, U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks says the regime "is in disarray and much of Iraq is free from years of oppression." Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden.