Colonel Will Grimsley, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division's First Brigade, told an AFP correspondent on the ground that US forces had "95 percent control" of the airport as of 0730 GMT this morning.

"I'm not sure it will ever be 100 percent," he added.

He said troops had found a tunnel at the airport's main terminal and still did not know where it led.

Brigade Spokesman Captain Andrew Valles said that "at least 5,000" US troops were now at the airport.

Helicopters have been using it since Saturday, but no fixed-wing aircraft have landed there yet.

Lieutenant Colonel Scott Rutter, commander of the brigade's 2-7 Infantry Battalion, said his unit had spent the past few days securing ground outside the airport "so when other units come out, it's safe".

A battalion of the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade is also now at the airport, Public Affairs Officer Lieutenant Eric Lake confirmed.

On Saturday night, a Bradley fighting vehicle firing a TOW missile destroyed another Iraqi T-72 tank. Troops also hit an armoured personnel carrier behind the perimeter wall of a nearby presidential palace and heard secondary explosions later.

SPACE.WIRE