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A British defence source said the ground attack on Iraq's capital was imminent.
"We're looking towards Monday night, Tuesday for the ground offensive on Baghdad," the source said.
Last night Iraqi 4WDs mounted with machineguns roamed the streets of Baghdad and mortar positions were set up in the south of the city.
Elite Republican Guard forces have dug in around the capital and sandbags have fortified fighting positions.
"(Baghdad) will be a tough fight," the British defence source said. "It will be interesting to see how they play it. The Republican Guard are going to put up a proper fight."
Defence experts have warned up to 12,000 allied forces may be killed in the battle for Baghdad.
One expert said yesterday a force of up to 120,000 soldiers would be needed to capture the Iraqi capital and 10 per cent could die in the fight.
Australian National University expert Alan Dupont said allied forces would face horrendous conditions in a street-by-street battle.
I really hope they have a plan B - that they didn't assume this would be over so quickly that they didn't need to worry about supply lines:
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US, British supply lines
stretched thin, analysts say
By Reuters, 03/24/03
LONDON (Reuters) -- Stop and consolidate. That was the advice from defense experts who fear U.S.-led forces might stretch supply lines dangerously thin in the race to Baghdad.
The logistical tail is stretching ever further across Iraq. Soldiers could be ambushed and supply routes sabotaged by persistent pockets of resistance behind the front line.
The risks are already plain. Iraqi television Sunday showed five shaken U.S. prisoners of war, apparently members of an army supply convoy ambushed when it took a wrong turn during a battle near the southern city of Nassiriya.
"These lines are the arteries of war. If they get severed, the forward troops are going to run out of fuel and ammunition very quickly," said Charles Heyman, editor of the military publication Jane's World Armies.
"There is no security in place to protect these supply routes. It begins to look as if they need more troops for force protection. I am sure the generals are addressing that problem."