4 April US Forces take control of Saddam International Airport and rename it Baghdad International Airport. Coalition air forces continue to hit regime command and control targets - including air force HQ - surface-to-surface missile sites, air defences and military aircraft.
5 April Ground forces operating in Baghdad. US combat aircraft begin 24h patrols over Baghdad providing close air support to US ground troops.
6 April Coalition air forces launch about 850 sorties, with 600 being strike missions. Roughly three-quarters of the strike sorties are in support of ground forces. There are also roughly 400 tanker and 425 airlift missions. A US Air Force Boeing F-15E bombs a convoy of US special forces and Kurdish supporters in northern Iraq. A Lockheed Martin C-130 lands at Baghdad airport, the first US military aircraft to do so.
7 April Since the war began, 750 Tomahawks have been fired and coalition air forces have dropped over 18,000 precision-guided munitions. Iraq uses a short-range surface-to-surface missile against an infantry unit.
8 April USAF B-1B attacks restaurant in Baghdad where Saddam Hussein and two sons are believed to be, using four 950kg (2,000lb) JDAMs. Weapons are retargeted in flight. Boeing C-17 transports airlift armour to airfield near Hadithah dam north west of Baghdad.
9 April Baghdad falls. Coalition aircraft fly 1,650 sorties, with 550 of them being strike flights. There are 350 tanker sorties and 375 airlift flights.
10 April Maj GenVictor Renuart, USCentral Command director of operations, says 9,530kg (21,000lb)massive ordnance air burst (MOAB)bomb has been delivered to theatre.
Source: Flight International
