Allied forces encircled Baghdad last night and claimed to have killed thousands of Iraqi fighters in combat, as the World Health Organisation warned of a humanitarian crisis in the city due to constant bombardment and a sharp rise in civilian casualties.
While there were said to be large numbers of irregular Iraqi forces on the streets of the capital, the regime appeared to be under increasing pressure from allied attacks.
The Iraqi Minister for Information's claims about the level of resistance have been growing wilder, and a statement attributed to President Saddam Hussein urged soldiers who had lost contact with their units to join the first one they could find.
In southern Iraq, British forces launched what could be the final thrust for control of Basra. A column of 40 armoured personnel carriers entered the country's second-largest city, which has been the scene of some of the most stubborn resistance. Three British soldiers died during the operation, the British Ministry of Defence said last night. US forces killed about 400 Iraqi paramilitary soldiers during two days of intense fighting that secured the central Iraqi city of Karbala, 101st Airborne Division spokesman, Maj Hugh Cate, said.
In the capital, artillery exchanges and mortar fire were heard and there were continual explosions on the outskirts of the city. A battle was reported to be taking place for control of a bridge over the River Tigris, on the south-eastern outskirts. In what was probably the most ominous development for the regime, a spokesman at US Central Command headquarters in Doha said that about 2,000 Iraqi fighters were killed in the first of a series of forays into Baghdad by US armoured vehicles. A second foray was reported last night and more are planned.
Though Saturday's 25-mile incursion through an industrial section of southern Baghdad was brief, it inflicted a heavy toll. More than three dozen tanks and armoured vehicles were involved. US casualties were said to be light.
The incursion took two task forces of the 3rd Infantry Division from the southern outskirts of the city past Baghdad University and near the banks of the Tigris, then back to the western outskirts of the city to the airport.
The airport last night was reported to be firmly under US control. The first US military aircraft, a C-130 transport plane, landed there yesterday.
A WHO spokesman said: "We expect a severe deterioration of the health situation during the days to come due to the daily bombardment that results in damage of infrastructure and sharp rise in civilian casualties."
The speed and ruthlessness of the US assault on Baghdad contrasted with the British approach to Basra which was initially more low-key, but altered in tempo at the weekend.
Mr Wajeeh Barzani, brother of one of the main Kurdish leaders, Mr Massoud Barzani, was in a critical state after a US "friendly fire" attack on a convoy of US and Kurdish forces killed 18 people.