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| <LikeThisQuery percentTermsToMatch="5" stopWords="Reuter" minDocFreq="2"> |
| IRAQI TROOPS REPORTED PUSHING BACK IRANIANS Iraq said today its troops were pushing Iranian forces out of |
| positions they had initially occupied when they launched a new offensive near the southern port of |
| Basra early yesterday. A High Command communique said Iraqi troops had won a significant victory |
| and were continuing to advance. Iraq said it had foiled a three-pronged thrust some 10 km |
| (six miles) from Basra, but admitted the Iranians had occupied ground held by the Mohammed al-Qassem |
| unit, one of three divisions attacked. The communique said Iranian Revolutionary Guards were under |
| assault from warplanes, helicopter gunships, heavy artillery and tanks. "Our forces are continuing |
| their advance until they purge the last foothold" occupied by the Iranians, it said. |
| (Iran said its troops had killed or wounded more than 4,000 Iraqis and were stabilising their new positions.) |
| The Baghdad communique said Iraqi planes also destroyed oil installations at Iran's southwestern Ahvaz field |
| during a raid today. It denied an Iranian report that an Iraqi jet was shot down. |
| Iraq also reported a naval battle at the northern tip of the Gulf. Iraqi naval units and forces defending an |
| offshore terminal sank six Iranian out of 28 Iranian boats attempting to attack an offshore terminal, |
| the communique said. Reuter 3; |
| </LikeThisQuery> |