"There's no one there (from Saddam Hussein's regime) to stop them" from welcoming the troops, reporter Andrew Gilligan said in a live broadcast, quoting "reliable sources known to the BBC."

Gilligan also said there were reports of looting taking place.

Witnesses earlier said US troops had entered Saddam City, Baghdad's teeming northeast Shiite suburb, without facing resistance, and that widespread looting was underway there Wednesday.

They also said US troops who entered Baghdad from the northwest reached the Kindi district of western Baghdad, the site of a major hospital at least six kilometers (four miles) from the heart of the capital.

SPACE.WIRE