Clashes between US forces and pro-Saddam fighters seemed to have ended by early afternoon in the area around Adhamiya mosque, close to one of Saddam Hussein's palaces, they said.

The US military earlier announced that one marine died and 13 were wounded in clashes with Saddam Hussein loyalists along the northern banks of the Tigris river.

Iraqi paramilitary units and Arab volunteers took part in the fight, residents said, adding that one tank and a personnel carrier were also destroyed.

SPACE.WIRE