Hours after the morning clash in the Dora and Yarmuk neighborhoods in the southwest of the capital, the coalition tanks which a US commander said had rolled in for the battle had rolled out again.

Loud artillery fire could still be heard in the urban area on Saturday in the aftermath of a fierce firefight.

It was the first incursion into the Iraqi capital by US-led troops which on March 20 unleashed a war to topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

A senior US official said a US tank commander was shot and killed and two other soldiers were wounded in Saturday's clash with the Iraqi forces.

There was no word on Iraqi casualties, but at the nearby al-Yarmuk hospital ambulances, their sirens wailing, and civilian minibuses have been bringing in wounded soldiers continuously since a US onslaught on the airport began late Thursday.

A white-and-orange taxi, clearly damaged by shelling, was seen parked in front of al-Yarmuk to which access has been banned after it was declared a military hospital.

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.

Windows and gates of nearby homes were completely shut and some houses appeared to have been deserted by their occupants.

The Dora power station towering over the area did not seem to have been damaged by Saturday's battle or previous repeated coalition bombings in the area since war erupted 17 days ago.

The plant feeds electricity to Baghdad, which was plunged into a total blackout on Friday evening before power was gradually restored to various sectors of the beleaguered capital.

Witnesses in the area confirmed that the fighting lasted "from five to eight o'clock this morning (0100 GMT to 0400 GMT)."

"It was hell. We were on a battlefield. It was on the airport road about 10 kilometres from the airport," said Kamal, an electrician from the Yarmuk district.

"The firepower was incredible. There was no let-up in the firing for three hours. Machine-gun fire, light artillery and rocket-propelled grenades," he said.

US forces announced they had taken control of the capital's Saddam International Airport on Friday -- renaming it Baghdad International Airport -- as a key prize in their campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime.

US commanders 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 before coming under heavy Iraqi fire.

Rocket-propelled grenades had been aimed at the tanks from rooftops while they also came under fire from shop fronts and bridges, a commander said.

SPACE.WIRE