U.S.-led forces have captured the southern Iraqi town of Nassiriya, U.S. military spokesman Stuart Upton told Reuters on Saturday.
"Nassiriya has fallen," he said from the U.S. Central Comand headquarters in Qatar. The town is a key crossing point on the Euphrates river about 320 km southeast of the capital, Baghdad. Nassiriya is also known as the capital of Dhi Qar province. It lies on the north bank of the lower Euphrates River. It is located on the highway between Basra and Al Kut.
Nassiriya was also the site of a Shiite Muslim revolt against the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein on March 2, 1991.
Meanwhile, fresh afternoon explosions rocked Baghdad on Saturday and smoke was seen rising from several locations across the city.
"There are six columns of thick black smoke rising from six different bombed positions," an eyewitness said. "There are three to the south of the city and three to the east." He added: "Large lack clouds of smoke are forming on both sides of the city."
It is thought the smoke may have come from oil or gas installations targeted by warplanes.(Albawaba.com)
