Timeline of The 2003 Invasion of Iraq - March 24, 2003

March 24, 2003

• An operation of about 30 attack helicopters against the Medina Division of Iraq's Republican guard, entrenched in the Karbala area, has taken place during the early hours of March 24. One US Apache helicopter which was captured by Iraqi civilians, along with its two crew members, appeared later in Arab satellite channels. A CNN embedded reporter with a helicopter unit that participated in the raid reported the destruction of another helicopter and that helicopters were under heavy fire, with only two of them managing to achieve their objectives. Its crew was later safely recovered.

• China gave the United States the address of its embassy in Baghdad in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the deadly US bombing of the People's Republic of China embassy in Belgrade.

• Five people, including one woman, were killed when a missile fell on their houses in a populated district in the west of Baghdad.
• The United States charged the Russians with supposed deliveries of weapons to Iraq. The spokesman of the American President, Ari Fleischer, rejected denials of Moscow and assured that Washington has "evidence" of these deliveries, which could give the Iraqis invaluable assets against the Anglo-American forces. Devices listed are binoculars for night vision, GPS units, and anti-tank missiles. Ari Fleischer said the American government asked the Russians to immediately put an end to its assistance.

The Russian government and the companies mentioned as having delivered armaments to Iraq have rejected these allegations on Monday, describing them as "inventions" and reaffirming that Moscow strictly respected the embargo imposed by UNO in Baghdad. Russian president Vladimir Putin rejected the American charges himself during a telephone conversation with George W. Bush, the Presidential press secretary indicated Tuesday, quoted by the Interfax agency.

• The Arab League voted 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq. The lone dissenting vote was cast by Kuwait.

• Saddam gives a televised address on Iraqi state television:

O brave fighters, hit your enemy with all your strength. O Iraqis, fight with the strength of the spirit of jihad which you carry in you and push them to the point where they cannot go on.