- Jan 10, 2002
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http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/27/sprj.irq.war.int.main/
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (CNN) -- The United States has dropped two 4,500-pound GBU-37 "bunker-buster" bombs on a target in Baghdad, shaking a large area and creating a large plume of smoke that rose over the city center.
It marked the first time the bombs have been used in this war.
Pentagon sources said a U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber dropped the satellite-guided bombs at around 11 p.m. Thursday local time (2000 GMT).
U.S. Central Command said a B-2 Spirit "targeted and struck a major link in Iraq's national communication network" located on the east bank of the Tigris River in downtown Baghdad.
"The strike with two precision-guided munitions was to degrade the ability of the Hussein regime to command and control the actions of Iraq's military forces," Central Command said in a statement.
It did not specify what type of bombs were used in one of the heaviest bombardments on Baghdad seen in the course of this war.
Iraq's International Communications Center, which operates Iraq's phone system, was ablaze after it was pounded in the strike late Thursday.
Baghdad residents told Reuters news service the Al Salam presidential palace was among the targets struck. The palace was bombed last week. Residents also told Reuters some military positions on the eastern and southern perimeter of the city had been targeted.
The use of increasingly powerful bombs comes as the United States announces it will send 120,000 additional troops to the Persian Gulf for a war U.S. President George W. Bush said will last "however long it takes to win."
CAMP DAVID, Maryland (CNN) -- The United States has dropped two 4,500-pound GBU-37 "bunker-buster" bombs on a target in Baghdad, shaking a large area and creating a large plume of smoke that rose over the city center.
It marked the first time the bombs have been used in this war.
Pentagon sources said a U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber dropped the satellite-guided bombs at around 11 p.m. Thursday local time (2000 GMT).
U.S. Central Command said a B-2 Spirit "targeted and struck a major link in Iraq's national communication network" located on the east bank of the Tigris River in downtown Baghdad.
"The strike with two precision-guided munitions was to degrade the ability of the Hussein regime to command and control the actions of Iraq's military forces," Central Command said in a statement.
It did not specify what type of bombs were used in one of the heaviest bombardments on Baghdad seen in the course of this war.
Iraq's International Communications Center, which operates Iraq's phone system, was ablaze after it was pounded in the strike late Thursday.
Baghdad residents told Reuters news service the Al Salam presidential palace was among the targets struck. The palace was bombed last week. Residents also told Reuters some military positions on the eastern and southern perimeter of the city had been targeted.
The use of increasingly powerful bombs comes as the United States announces it will send 120,000 additional troops to the Persian Gulf for a war U.S. President George W. Bush said will last "however long it takes to win."
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