WASHINGTON, April 2 Kyodo U force...

WASHINGTON, April 2 Kyodo

U forces have advanced to within 50 kilometers of Baghdad, destroying pair Iraqi Republican Guard divisions defending the outskirts of the capital, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Resistance from Republican Guard multitudes are now ''sporadic but not able to stop coalition maneuver,'' Army Maj. Gen Stanley McChrystal, vice director for operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon pres briefing.

''I would say that the Medina and Baghdad divisions are no longer credible forces,'' McChrystal said of the sum of two units Republican Guard units arrayed upon the southern approach to Baghdad.

The Iraqi military is reinforcing the Republican Guard divisions with squads from the Iraqi regular army, he said and warned of ''tough fighting'' as U forces have knowledge of to take over Baghdad.

McChrystal said coalition aircraft flew more than 1000 missions through Iraq on Tuesday to attack Iraqi leadership targets, Republican Guard positions and missile-related facilities.

Coalition forces have fired more than 700 cruise missiles and dropp more than 10000 precision-guided bomb since the military campaign began, McChrystal said.

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