The U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade is now stationed near the Harir airfield, 45 miles northeast of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. An estimated 1,000 paratroopers from the brigade landed earlier Thursday and seized the airfield as a possible staging ground for a second front against Saddam Hussein.
The 3rd Infantry Division moves into position at sunset near Karbala in central Iraq on Thursday. The weather improved Thursday, allowing for resupply and preparation for a possible move north towards Baghdad.
A soldier with A Company 3rd Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Infantry Division, walks through the desert near Karbala in central Iraq Thursday.
In this image from video, a U.S. soldier keeps watch near one of the burning oil fires in the Rumelia South oil field in Iraq on Thursday.
A U.S. Army Paladin artillery vehicle fires during a firefight with Iraqi forces north of Najaf, Iraq, in this image from video taped Thursday.
A U.S. Army Paladin artillery vehicle explodes due to a misfire inside the vehicle during the Third Brigade's firefight with Iraqi forces north of Najaf, Iraq, on Thursday, in this image from video. Two soldiers were slightly injured in the incident.
Iraqi children join a British soldier from 42 Commando as he patrols the southern Iraqi town of Um Qasr, 22 miles south of Basra, on Thursday.
Soldiers of the British Army's Light Infantry and 2nd Royal Tank Regiment distribute aid and food packages to local people in Az Zubayr near Basra, southern Iraq, on Thursday.
On Thursday, an Iraqi farm worker searches through the rubble of a building that was struck by artillery shells and missiles on Wednesday in the Al Usfiya region 10 miles south of Baghad. Iraq's health minister said 36 civilians were killed and 215 wounded in U.S. air strikes on Baghdad a day earlier, and accused U.S.-led forces of deliberately targeting civilians. The U.S. military denied it had targeted civilians.
A Royal Marine, from 42 Commando, patrols in the southern Iraqi town of Um Qa-eel, 20 miles south of Basra, on Thursday. The Royal Marines have used tactics learned from patrolling Northern Ireland for these patrols in Iraq, where there are believed to be many hostiles armed with sniper weapons and Rocket Propelled Grenades.
An Iraqi soldier who surrendered to Task Force 2-69 Armor, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga., is taken into custody during intense fighting outside of Al Kifl, Iraq, on Thursday.
A plane launched from the USS Harry S. Truman, takes off for a strike operation against Iraq at sunrise Thursday. The squadrons of the carrier group in the eastern Mediterranean have stepped up flight operations as U.S. forces edged closer to Baghdad on several routes Thursday, clashing with Iraqi troops and preparing for a confrontation with Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard.
In this image from video, smoke rises over Baghdad on Thursday.
British tank and armored personnel carrier crews wait on the frontline at Basra, Iraq on Thursday. British artillery and coalition aircraft destroyed several Iraqi armored vehicles that streamed out of the besieged city of Basra overnight, the top British commander in the Gulf said.
The Marine convoy carrying the DART team to and from Umm Qasr throws out candy and food to Iraqi children as they travel to the port to assess whether it is capable of receiving aid.
On the front line just south of Basra, Iraq, British troops prepare to engage enemy targets on Wednesday, in a photo made available Thursday. At right is Lance Cpl. Gav Williamson, 23, of 1st British Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. At left is Private Daz Wright, 26, of the 1st Princess of Wales Regiment. Both are attached to the W Company Mortar Platoon.
An ordnance officer checks the JDAM bombs of a F/A-18 Hornet prior to a strike against Iraq from the USS Harry S. Truman at sunrise Thursday. The aircraft carrier is conducting missions in support of "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
A U.S. Air Force B-52 returning from a mission in Iraq is seen over the Black Sea on Thursday after being refueled airborne from a KC 10 plane.
A U.S. army soldier looks on while on patrol near the burning North Ramala oil fields, in southern Iraq on Thursday. According to reports, Iraqi soldiers blew up the wells before leaving the area.
Back in Washington, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee to ask for more funding for the Iraq war and the ongoing fight against terrorism.