US marines fighting in Tikrit: Centcom

AS-SALIYAH (AFP) Apr 13, 2003
US marines Sunday engaged in combat in the key northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, a spokesman for the US Central Command (Centcom) said, describing the fighting as "spotty."

"We have forces in Tikrit. We are actively engaging any forces we need to," the spokesman, who asked not to be named, said at Centcom's war headquarters in As-Saliyah, Qatar.

Asked to describe the fighting, he said it was "spotty" but added that "when you are engaged in a firefight it is always fierce."

He said Task Force Tripoli, made up of members of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, was involved in the fighting "in and around Tikrit."

SPACE.WIRE