War briefing

North

*Near Kalak, a U.S. plane mistakenly bombs a convoy of Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces; 18 people, including a translator for the BBC, are killed and 45 injured, according to Kurdish officials.

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Kirkuk

*Kurdish fighters, with U.S. air support, move within 20 miles of this oil-rich city.

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Baghdad

*U.S. troops make incursions into downtown Baghdad, where they face pockets of resistance.

*U.S. forces surround Baghdad and push into the suburbs.

*Nineteen miles outside Baghdad, a convoy of about 25 Russian diplomats and journalists is attacked on the way to Syria; five people are hurt.

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Basra

* An airstrike destroys a building where General Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali, was believed to have been. It is unclear if Majid was killed.

* British troops face minimal opposition as they enter the center of the city.

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Nasiriyah

* U.S. forces fly in hundreds of soldiers with the Iraqi National Congress, an exile group that will come under the U.S. Central Command.

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Sources: Jane’s Defence Weekly; Department of Defense; Associated Press; Reuters

Researched by Times graphics reporter Kristen Walbolt