European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 19, 1991 the stars and stripes b p Page 3 War in the Gulf Baghdad mayor Khalid Abdul Munim said residents face the threat of cholera and typhoid epidemics because Allied air raids have wrecked the sewage system and disrupted water supplies. Two . Warships struck _ floating mines in the Northern persian Gulf on monday and seven service members were injured. Both the Tripoli and the Princeton were damaged but were not in danger of sinking officials said. Reported monday 2,400 sorties. 1 american plane Down. 2 us warships damaged by mines since Start of War Allied sorties 80,000 missions flow Quot reported by allies 35 killed in action including 16 americans and 19 sodts 30 americans listed As non combat deaths. An additional 105 americans listed As non combat deaths in operation desert shield before War. 51 missing in action including 30 americans 10 British one italian and 10 saudis. 12 prisoners of War including eight americans two British one italian and one kuwaiti 40 Allied planes lost 30 in combat including 21 american six British one kuwaiti one italian and one saudi. Non combat losses 10 planes including eight american one British and one saudi. Six american a a a helicopters to non hostile causes. More than 1,280 iraqis taken prisoner 135 iraqi planes destroyed plus six helicopters. Reported by Iraq More than 180 Allied aircraft downed More than 20 prisoners held. 1,591 civilians killed and 90 soldiers killed. 828 civilians wounded. A travellers coming out of Iraq said up to 5,000 people protested against Saddam Hussein on feb. 9 in the Southern iraqi City of Diw Aniyah. They quoted sources As saying demonstrators shot and killed 10 officials of Iraq s ruling party who intervened. 4tie-. Military said moriday that another aircraft was lost in combat but air Force helicopters flew 40 Miles North of the saudi Border sunday night Anch rescued the Pilot of the f-16 after he parachuted from his disabled warplane. Saudi Arabia Riyadh Hiya Bahrain  1 Qatar a amps update Wes Roo Lior Baghdad claimed monday that it inflicted casualties on Allied ground troops with a missile barrage fired into saudi Arabia. Iraq s foreign minister Tariq Aziz held talks in Moscow on monday with soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev in a last ditch Effort to Avert a ground War. The soviets said they offered Iraq a new peace plan but gave no  tactic helping . Raise tank kills by Eric Schmitt new York times a Riyadh saudi Arabia a . Planes Are using a new night fighting tactic to destroy As Many As 200 top line iraqi Bat tie tanks a Day senior . Military officials said Here and in Washington using a technique that combines laser guided bombs and enhanced night vision sensors in a new Way american fighter bombers have in the last week increased As much As fourfold the number of iraqi t-62 and. T-72 tanks destroyed or disabled every 24 hours a senior officer said. By improvising a More effective method of targeting and blasting iraqis Best tanks the american led coalition has vastly improved its ability to dismantle one of Baghdad s last potent Battlefield threats the military officials said. The new tactic. Once tested initially,1 worked so Vivell that on the third night of a revised Campaign a battalion of 44 iraqi tanks rolled out of their bunkers to avoid bombardment a senior official said. Exposed in the open desert 41 of the 44 tanks were destroyed by american fighter bombers in what one official called a a a Turkey  v the new strategy has an important bearing on any decision to commit Allied forces to a ground War. Some air Power advocates in the military argue that As Long As the tactic continues to work there is Little compelling reason to Rush into a costly land War. The More efficient bombing Campaign would Speed the Effort to reduce Iraq s armoured forces by 50 to 60 percent a level that Many military leaders View As an important threshold to make ground combat less costly. A there s no question Well be at that rate by March 1, unless the weather turns really bad a said a ranking commander. The new tactic has been directed at iraqis Republican guard particularly its four armoured and Mechanie a divisions the Pentagon has said that about 1,400 of Iraq s 4,200 tanks have been destroyed. About a third have reportedly been towline soviet made t-62 s and t-72�?Ts. The iraqis Are believed to have about 1.000 t-72 s and 1.500 t-62 a according to the International Institute for strategic studies. Some american military officials feel those numbers maybe High. Some intelligence analysts in Washington have disagreed with the . Central Comdr a estimate of weapons destroyed. Estimates by the Cia and the defense intelligence Agency Are said to be much More conservative than the numbers the military in Washington and Riyadh have announced. The intelligence agencies rely solely on satellite photography and pictures from spy planes. The Central come also uses Pilot reports and oth a evidence gathered in saudi Arabia. A american officers described the new targeting technique Only in general terms. They say a More detailed description might help president Saddam Hussein a f re e s devise a n e tie it Ive Cou n t e St r a Tegyo a Btu   the specific aircraft flown on the nightly raids. Six planes use laser guided bombs and Fly night missions the Al 17a, 1 111, i 15e, i 16, a-6 and a is. The officials said  a combination of some of those aircraft at least one of which is always the Al 11. Allied commanders say the pilots using the new technique damage or destroy 70 to 80 percent of their targets. Officials believe that most of the tanks destroyed since the new strategy was put into place Are the top line iraqi tanks. The targeting tactic is vulnerable to Cloud cover As is the entire Allied air Campaign. On Clear nights More than 200 tanks have been destroyed or damaged whereas on overcast nights than lure drops to 100 or less a senior officer said. In the first three weeks of the War about 650 tanks were destroyed or damaged compared with 750 tanks in just Over a week since the new tactic was introduced officials said. In that time Allied fighter bombers have also shifted emphasis to the tanks rather than iraqi. Supply routes air commanders said they switched Lac ties after achieving Only limited Success in Day strikes by several aircraft including the a-10. A so and b-52s. A primary reason was that the iraqis had buried about l,no0 of their Best tanks under the desert Sands a commander said. A