Bands of non-Iraqi Arab fighters are reported to be putting up heavy resistance to the US military presence in Baghdad with fierce clashes reported in the western half of the Iraqi capital. Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis saw several explosions as US planes swooped over the Mansur district in west Baghdad.

He said Arab fighters were in control of streets in Mansur and other districts in the west of the city as well as Aadhamiya and Waziriya in the north. They were manning checkpoints and US troops were nowhere to be seen.

One US Marine Killed & 13 Others Injured

US warplanes attacked targets on Thursday after marines came under heavy fire along the northern banks of the Tigris river with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, with one marine reported killed and 13 wounded, a US officer said.

US marines also entered a mosque to search for opposition fighters. Many of western Baghdad's residents, notably in the west, are from the majority Sunni school of Islam, and unlike the Shia who were oppressed under Saddam Hussein's Baathist government, have less reason to welcome US rule.

US forces were also reported to be sweeping through northeastern districts of the heavily populated capital hunting resistance fighters.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Iraqi policeman holds his weapon in the air in front of the Palestinian hotel in Baghdad April 7, 2003. Initially caught off guard, Iraqi forces defending the capital Baghdad hit back with artillery, mortar and sniper fire on Monday after U.S. troops thrust into the heart of the city. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)