Major Ross Coffman said the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division completed the western portion of a planned encirclement of Baghdad and were waiting for US Marines to close the door from the east.

Coffman said the army troops backed by close air support destroyed an Iraqi tank battalion, leaving hundreds of Iraqis dead or wounded and wiping out 25 tanks, 50 trucks and several armoured personnel carriers.

After completing a 70-kilometer (43-mile) push, the army controlled a semi-circle around Baghdad extending from the Tigris in the north to where the river leaves the capital in the south, the major said.

"The army owns from river to river on the west side," said Coffman, who serves at the division's Tactical Command Post.

The army had engaged with forces from the 8th brigade of the Republican Guard's Hammurabi Division and elements of the Adnan division, a US military source said.

Coffman described the area as "the last bastion of hope for the Iraqi military."

He said the division's Second Brigade controlled the southern end of the river while the Third Brigade held the western bank of the Tigris in the north.

Officers said the marines were moving on Baghdad from east of the Tigris and hoped to have the city surrounded by the end of Sunday.

"Marines continue to complete the encirclement of Baghdad," Coffman said.

A marine, requesting anonymity, said that on their side, Marines were encountering resistance from irregulars.

SPACE.WIRE