The coalition forces continued its air assault o­n Baghdad over Sunday night and o­n the northern front, several hundred Special Forces troops were reported to have landed an airstrip in Kurdish-held north Iraq in advance of a new front in the ground war.

US Marines also waged a four-hour firefight with pockets of Iraqi troops in the southern city of Umm Qasr o­n Sunday and the clash ended with a quick air strike from a Harrier jet. A staff sergeant from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit called the incident "effectively over" and said Marines were heading out to pick up prisoners of war.

At the same time, the US-led troops also captured the eastern bridges in Nasiriyah but at a cost of suffering the loss of at least 10 Marines.

Iraq's defense minister said o­n Sunday that American forces driving north toward Baghdad would eventually have to "pay a heavy price in blood" by fighting for Baghdad if they wanted to topple Saddam Hussein.