US warplanes continued their aerial assault o­n Republican Guard positions in Baghdad today while American troops reported killing up to 300 Iraqi soldiers in a firefight south of the capital.

A Reuters report said as dawn broke more than 30 large explosions rocked the southern outskirts of Baghdad where elite troops loyal to President Saddam Hussein are based. Another hit the city center.

Witnesses said smoke could be seen rising from an area of Baghdad where the Ministry of Information and television station are situated.

A Pentagon official said 150 to 300 Iraqi forces were believed killed yesterday when they attacked the US 7th Cavalry near the town of Najaf. There were no US casualties.

"Apparently ground forces tried to hit some of our guys with rocket-propelled grenades," the official said.

"They did damage a couple of pieces of our gear but we've had no reports of casualties o­n our side. But apparently there are some reports that we may have killed quite a few of them," he said.

"Estimates differ. Some say 200-300. Some say 150," the official said.

Civilian uprising

In a related development, British forces o­n the outskirts of Basra have reported that a violent civilian uprising against Saddam's regime has begun in the southern Iraqi city.

British Chief of Staff at Allied Central Command in Qatar Major General Peter Wall confirmed that it appeared an uprising had taken place but that it was in its infancy and British troops were "keen to exploit its potential".

According to military intelligence officials, Iraqi troops in the city turned mortar fire o­n their own civilians in an attempt to crush the unrest, but Baghdad denies any revolt has occurred.

However, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf ( photo ) denied reports of an uprising, which first came from British television reporters near the southern city.

The Shi'ite Muslim people of Basra rose up against Saddam's Sunni-dominated government after the 1991 Gulf War, but their revolt was rapidly smashed as US forces stood aside.

US-led forces had been hoping the Shi'ite south would welcome their invasion this time round.

Baath headquarters bombed

Richard Gaisford, a television journalist with Britain's ITN reporting from just outside Basra, said British forces had bombed the ruling Baath Party offices in the city.

"They have completely destroyed the Baath party headquarters," Gaisford told Sky News . "They've dropped a 2,000 pound bomb o­n the building ... It's totally destroyed it."

Earlier, Colonel Chris Vernon, a British military spokesman in Kuwait, told a news conference that British forces arrayed around Basra had attacked precise Iraqi targets during the day and had captured a top official of Saddam's Baath party there.

British forces south of Basra blocked an attempted breakout by up to 50 Iraqi tanks seeking to press southward from the edge of the city, a British naval commander said.

Two British soldiers were killed by "friendly fire" near the city o­n Monday and two others were seriously injured when their tank was mistakenly attacked by another British tank.

Meanwhile, Saddam urged Iraqi tribesmen to join the battle against US and British forces, without waiting for further orders.

"The enemy has violated your lands and now they are violating your tribes and families," the Iraqi leader said in a statement read o­n his behalf o­n state television.