Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-26
Allies Advance 10 to IS Miles;
Kasserine Gap Seizure Complete;
Reds Trap Nazis at Novorossisk
Foe Admits Loss
Of initiative in
Central Tunisiu
b. the Associated Press.

ALLIED 1EiADNo{O AN END I'm
NORTH AFRICA, Feb. 26.-Allied
troops, pushing their counterof-
fensive in Central TuniSia, have
recaptured Kasserine Pass anG
the high ground on both sides
and, following up Marshal Erwin
Rommeps withdrawal also have
advanced 10 to IS miles in the
Sbiba area to the northeast, an
Allied headquarters communique
announced today.
(Adolph Hitler's high command
tacitly admitted loss of the init
alive in the battle of Central
Tunisia today, reporting that
'our offensive operations have
been concluded"
(The communique declared
that strong American and Brit
ish forces had been routed and
1000 prisoners takenC
The Germans, defeated in their
offensive which had carried them
sc miles from Faid Pass almost TO
the Algerian border, appeared to be
falling back toward Gafsa as Gen.
Sir Harold Alexander's Britons and
Americans seized the initiative.
Gafsa is rs miles southeast OF the
farthest point reached by Rommels
armored columns, which had surged
to within three miles Of Thala.
Push Nazis Into Plateau.
American doughboys and British
Tommies drove up the mountains on
each side of Kasserine Pass yester-
day afternoon and pushed the Ger
mans into the fiat plateau beyond
while American and British tanks
roared through the gap on the heels
of the Axis troops.
At the same time British forces
to the northeast bore down on the
flank from the Sbiba Mountain area
and advanced to within nine miles
Of Sbeitla. Here, too, the Germans
were in flight.
Sbiba is 80 miles northeast of Kas-
serine and 80 miles north of Sbeitla
one of the towns through which
Rommel passed on his way from
Faid Pass toward Kasserine.
The communique said that Allied
forces made a successful raid farther
to the northeast in the Bou Arada
area, capturing prisoners and in
dicting casualties.
British and American troops
pressing close on the heels Of the
Germans kept contact
with them throughout the day yes
terday, despite thickly-sown mine
fields, the communique said, while
Allied air forces bombed Gafsa to
the south, Mareth Line fortiflca-
tons, the northern naval base Of
Bizerte and ranged the whole bat
tie zone.
Kasserine Pass, the gateway by
which Rommel had sought to drive
into northern high plains from
which he could strike at vital Allied
communications, was cleared of the
receding German tide at 3 pm.
yesterday, and it was not known
here how far beyond Allied ar
mored forces had progressed since
that time.
Nor did reports from the front
give indications of how far the
Germans might fall back before
attempting TO make stand.
But it was clear that Rommel was
suffering heavy casualties under a
day and night hammering from
nearly every type of bomber and
fighter In the Allied armory, either
In the Middle East or French North
Africa.
Towns Are Pounded.
Raj Bisley light bombers ham
mered Gafsa and Sbeitla by night,
exploding ammunition dumps and
starting fires.
Hurricane bombers and American
fighters wrecked the roads in the
area throughout the day.
Fighter bombers attacked motor
transport and the landing grounds
at Gabes, while both heavy and me-
dunn bombers from Libya blasted
Gabes a second time and attacked
the Mareth Line Notifications in the
south.
Flying FortreSses smashed at the
docks at Bizerte by daylight yester-
day and left fire areas in their wake
Three Allied planes were lost and
at least two enemy planes were shot
down, the communique said.
"Kasserine Pass is now in oul
(See AFRICA. Page A-l6D