Hours after the morning clash in the adjacent Dora and Yarmuk neighborhoods in the southwest of the capital, there were no signs of coalition tanks which a US commander said had rolled in for the battle.

Army trucks, armoured personnel carriers as well as jeeps mounted with anti-aircraft guns were left, some burning and others smoking on the main road leading to the Dora power station and nearby sidestreets.

Soldiers and armed paramilitary elements were deployed in the area, diverting traffic on roads blocked by burning overturned trucks.

US forces took control of the capital's Saddam International Airport on Friday -- renaming it Baghdad International Airport -- as a key prize in their 16-day-old campaign against the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

A US commander said a tank battalion task force from the 3rd Infantry Division punched their way toward the heart of Baghdad on a road leading from the airport.

SPACE.WIRE