With US troops expanding their grip on the Iraqi capital in the face of sporadic but at times fierce resistance, hospitals are buckling under the pressure of treating the wounded.The International Committee of the Red Cross says at least one hospital in Mahmoudiya, a southern suburb of Baghdad, was "no longer capable of dealing with the influx of injured patients".

Hospital staff were now "increasingly under pressure by the high number of arrivals" said ICRC director of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl. The increase in pressure is felt by civilians, journalists and resistance fighters alike.

"There is an additional concern for the short-term medical and water support requirements for many of these hospitals, and for water installations in general in the towns in the south of Baghdad. It is an extremely precarious situation, and we remain worried."

It was not possible to estimate the current rate of civilian casualties being brought to hospitals or the total number of Iraqis wounded to date, he added.

Journalists are again caught in the crossfire. Al-Jazeera and the Red Cross have been trying in vain to contact over 20 media staff holed up in a basement in west Baghdad, which has become the front line of the war for the capital. The group, belonging to Abu Dhabi TV, has been pinned down by tank and machine-gun fire and has appealed to both Iraqi and US forces to respect their neutrality.

These reports come at the same time that journalists and civilians alike have been hit hard, despite reports of a calm night.

Al-Jazeera's correspondent, Majid Abdul Hadi, reports that explosions started around 0500 (local time) with sporadic shelling in central Baghdad today after a relatively quiet night, during which US-led invasion forces consolidated their control of the west side of Baghdad. US air patrols over the capital began to increase after 0800 this morning.

US forces are believed to have taken the Foreign and Information ministries, as well as several presidential palaces, but this could not be confirmed by Central Command in Doha, Qatar.

In the heart of the city, however, Iraqis have put up some resistance over night, but with small arms and rocket propelled grenades only. By 0400 this morning, only sporadic gun and tank fire could be heard in the city centre, according to Majid Abdul Hadi.

According to reporters in the city parts of the 1st Brigade of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division prepared to thrust into the centre of the city from their base at the international airport in the southwest.

The infantry's 3rd Brigade in the northwest was sweeping down to the west of the Tigris river which divides the Iraqi capital and armoured units of the 2nd Brigade, which hold a Presidential palace compound in the heart of Baghdad, were slowly expanding their operations.

"I can see American troops driving around in Humvees in the compound. They are that confident," said Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis, speaking from the Palestine Hotel which overlooks Saddam's presidential site across the Tigris.

Iraqi Information Ministry officials who have shadowed foreign reporters through nearly three weeks of war were nowhere to be seen at the hotel on Wednesday.

One Reuters correspondent, travelling with a unit of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, saw them encounter very little opposition, and getting a largely warm reception as they swept the poor residential district of Saddam City. The district is home to around two million Iraqis, mainly from the Shi'ia Muslim community.

Marine officers say they expected eventually to meet up with Army forces moving from the west. The Al-Sinak Bridge and Al-Jumhuriyya Bridge over the Tigris are expected to be the focus of resistance today, according to Al-Jazeera's correspondent Majid Abdul Hadi.

But despite their success in seizing key buildings in the centre of Baghdad, U.S. officials continue to stress the continued danger facing their forces as they tighten their grip on the city of five million.

Six US marines were wounded, one of them critically, in a firefight with Iraqi resistance east of the Baghdad district of Saddam city. Three more US marines were wounded in fighting on Tuesday night.

PHOTO CAPTION

The camera of an injured photographer