US soldiers and tanks are operating in the heart of Baghdad and encountering sporadic resistance, a Central Command spokesperson said today.

According to a CNN report, Navy Captain Frank Thorp said: "Our efforts are very opportunistic".

"As we see an opportunity to move forward, to move into an area, we take it and move forward into that area and that's what's got us overnight into the city of Baghdad," he added.

The Army's V Corps moved into the city from the south. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force came in from the southeast.

"The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force has engaged the Al Nida Division of the Republican Guard and at this point we have penetrated that division," Thorp said in Doha, Qatar.

Several tank units from the 2nd Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division entered into the Iraqi capital earlier today in what was described as a reconnaissance mission.

"It does appear very clearly from the maps we've seen that what the army is striving to do at this point is carve out chunks of the city," said a CNN correspondent travelling with the troops.

"Bite off a chunk of Baghdad and then take that chunk and literally dismember the city zone by zone so that each of these zones falls under the control of the US Army," he added.

In another development, a day after US forces secured the Saddam International Airport - renamed Baghdad International Airport - Iraqi forces are offering organised but small-scale resistance.

Airport, Iraqi forces are offering organized but small-scale resistance to American soldiers working to bring adjacent areas under control, the commanding officer of the Army's 3-7th Cavalry said.

"They're continuing to fight, and we will continue to succeed," Lt Col. Terry Ferrell said in an interview with the correspondent.

He added that elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division and 101st Airborne are working to secure the area.

There have been no reported coalition casualties in the area.

Bodies of soldiers

Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed today that the bodies found in a raid o­n an Iraqi hospital in Nasiriya were indeed those of eight missing members of an Army maintenance convoy.

The soldiers had been listed as missing in action since their convoy drove into an ambush near the southern Iraqi town o­n March 23. The bodies were found during the commando assault in which Army Pfc Jessica Lynch was freed.

In the Iraqi capital, "our efforts are very opportunistic," Navy Capt. Frank Thorp said. "As we see an opportunity to move forward, to move into an area, we take it and move forward into that area and that's what's got us overnight into the city of Baghdad."

The Army's V Corps moved into the city from the south. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force came in from the southeast.

"The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force has engaged the Al Nida Division of the Republican Guard and at this point we have penetrated that division," Thorp, a CentCom spokesman, said in Doha, Qatar.

Devastating explosions

This morning, US marines launched a ferocious barrage o­n Baghdad's eastern outskirts as they prepared to draw a noose of steel around the capital in their bid oust President Saddam Hussein.

Reuters said devastating explosions rocked the southeastern districts of Baghdad after a night of relentless bombing aimed at the eastern fringes of the city.

The attack in the east followed yesterday's capture of the city's airport, the biggest prize yet for US-British forces in the 17-day-old war.

US commanders called in reinforcements to beef up the estimated 1,500 troops at the airport, possibly opening the way for it to be used as a forward base in a battle for the sprawling city of 5 million people.

Yesterday, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf (left) warned that coalition troops would face a "non-conventional" attack, which he described as "a kind of martyrdom operation".

Sahaf added that "nonconventional" he did not mean Baghdad planned to use weapons of mass destruction. "We will do something that will be a great example for these mercenaries," he said.

Final battle

"We are going to try to isolate Baghdad," Marine Captain Matt Watt told Reuters. "We're going to surround Baghdad and start taking chunks out of where the enemy are."

"This is it. This is the final battle. We have no way out. We are facing a reality now. We're confronting the mightiest army in the world. What can we do? Where can we go? We're at a loss," said Nour Khaled, 48, a mother of two.

US military leaders dismissed any expectations that the conflict would draw to an end soon, pointing out that the battle in Baghdad could entail dangerous urban warfare in which their technological edge over the Iraqis would be blunted.

"We know there are forces inside (Baghdad) that have intent to fight. It will take time to gain a degree of control and security," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters.

In a show of defiance and to rally resistance, Iraq broadcasted television footage of Saddam touring bomb-damaged streets and greeting a crowd of supporters.

This immediately sparked off speculation o­n whether it was really the president o­n the streets or o­ne of his body doubles.

Iraqi television also showed what it said was Saddam reading a statement in which he referred to the downing of a US Apache helicopter o­n March 24.

"Hit them with force, resist them, oh people of Baghdad whenever they advance upon your city and remain true to your principles, your faith and your honor," said Saddam.

Republican Guard

In a related development, CNN quoted sources as saying members of the Republican Guard - Iraq's top military force - were heading toward the airport to bolster the Iraqi troops.

The report added that huge explosions and multiple flashes of light were heard and seen over mostly blacked-out Baghdad early today, hours after hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Iraqis fled the capital.

Explosions were so intense that parts of the city were lit up by massive fireballs. At times, the explosions jolted the city o­ne after another for minutes.

Much of the fighting o­n the ground centered around Baghdad's international airport, secured by coalition troops a day earlier in a bloody assault that left hundreds of Iraqi soldiers dead.

The Pentagon said 67 US personnel had been killed and 154 wounded since the war, intended to rid Iraq of chemical and biological weapons, began. It said 16 were missing and seven had been taken prisoner.

Iraq denies having chemical or biological weapons and the US-British forces have yet to find any but US forces said yesterday they had found thousands of boxes containing vials of unidentified liquid and powder as well as manuals o­n chemical warfare at two sites near Baghdad.