Bomb blasts and artillery fire rocked Baghdad today as US forces strengthened their positions outside the capital city.

Reuters

said the explosions, accompanied by the roar of warplanes over the city centre, echoed from the west and southwest, where US forces reinforced the international airport, which they seized o­n Friday.

As US forces closed in and Baghdad residents fled their battered capital. Iraqi television reported authorities slapped a ban o­n travel out of the city between 6.00pm and 6.00am beginning tonight night for security reasons.

Meanwhile, CNN said US forces with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division were near the centre of the Iraqi capital this morning for a second day of reconnaissance missions.

Earlier, a flow of US tanks and armoured vehicles rumbled over the Euphrates as US forces strengthened their positions around Baghdad.

"We're pushing the bulk of the 3rd Infantry Division over the Euphrates toward Baghdad," Reuters quoted Colonel John Peabody, commander of the Engineer Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division as saying.

The news agency's correspondent Luke Baker - who is with the Engineer Brigade - said he heard a constant rumble of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and fuel trucks push up toward Baghdad through the night.