Invading forces continued their air raid over Baghdad today, with its aircrafts hitting "leadership target" in a residential neighbourhood in the district of Mansur

News agency Reuters quoted US military officials as saying that four 2,000 pound bombs were dropped o­n the target o­ne specific building early today.

"We are confirming that a leadership target was hit very hard," Major Brad Bartlett, a spokesman at US Central Command war headquarters in Qatar, was quoted as telling told reporters.

To a question if the target had been Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the spokesman declined to comment. Reuters added that according to a US official in Washington, the military had bombed a building after reports suggested that Saddam and his two sons may have been inside.

Explosions in Baghdad

CNN

added that the building was destroyed.

"US officials said they don't know who they might have killed in the attack, but they said they believed the intelligence which US officials received Monday was very good. Part of that intelligence was "human" intelligence, meaning from informants," reported CNN .

CNN

also reported that explosions and machine gun fire were heard in Baghdad just after 5am today (9am Malaysian time)

It quoted an Arabic channel in saying that the machine gun fire was coming from the direction of a presidential palace.

Meanwhile BBC said that the US troops have established a presence in the heart of Baghdad after raiding Saddam Hussein's main palace and battling Iraqi forces yesterday .

Chemical tests

The Pentagon described the move into the city as a "show of force" rather than the start of a full occupation - an operation aimed at convincing Iraqis that further resistance is futile, said BBC .

The US military says 65 tanks and 40 Bradley fighting vehicles took part in the incursion, which sent Iraqi soldiers fleeing along the river bank.

The British channel also said that according to US military, the initial field tests o­n chemicals found near the city of Karbala suggest the possible presence of the nerve agents sarin and tabun, as well as mustard gas. ( photo )

"The Pentagon has cautioned that these are o­nly preliminary results and further laboratory tests will be conducted," added BBC .

Visit by commander

Meanwhile, Associated Press reported that US war commander General Tommy Franks visited his front-line troops in Iraq o­n Monday.

"Franks left his headquarters outside Doha, Qatar, in a military jet bound for Kuwait. There, he boarded a Black Hawk helicopter flanked by machine gunners for ride across the border into southern Iraq, at times skimming the Euphrates River," reported AP news agency.

The report said that Franks visited several towns, including Basra and the Shiite holy city of Najaf and greeted troops with slaps and hugs.

"I think it would be almost impossible for anyone to see those kids and recognize where they came from and what they've done over the last two weeks and look at their mental state and morale and not feel pretty good about it," Franks was quoted by AP .

US Central Command described Franks' trip, his first to Iraq since the start of the war, as a morale booster for the troops. But the o­ne-day sweep also underscores the growing sense of control and security felt by US-led forces as they march into Baghdad, added the report.

Franks however did not go to Baghdad.

Looting in Basra

In the southern city of Basra, ABC News reported that British ground troops, accompanied by air support, focused o­n trying to finally secure the city.

"Pockets of resistance still exist in the narrow lanes and by-lanes in the densely populated neighborhood in the old section of the city," said the American television channel.

The report also said that there were widespread incidents of looting in areas of the city that had fallen into coalition control.

ABC News

said that residents were stripping a prison and a university campus, despite calls from local clerics to desist from looting.

"At the university, people were coming out with computers, posters, rugs, papers," said the station. "When we asked them why, their answer was, 'because we have nothing.' "