One US marine was reported killed while 13 others were wounded as they came under heavy fire from Saddam Hussein loyalists along the northern banks of the Tigris river, said a report today.

"There were at least 13 casualties and o­ne soldier killed in action," said First Sergeant Jeff Treiber.

The report said the troops have been under fire since 2.00am from fighters hiding in buildings, cars and beneath bridges.

Mosque stormed

Meanwhile, a Fox News report said the soldier was killed in a three-hour gun battle when his unit seized a palace in the northern outskirts of the city.

It was also reported that marines had stormed a mosque in the capital as they believed that President Saddam Hussein could be hiding there. However, this has yet to be confirmed.

In another development, a group of Marines discovered an enormous cache of weapons, including hundreds of mortars and grenade launchers, and millions of rounds of ammunition.

Reuters

reported that US warplanes were attacking positions in Baghdad o­n the west bank of the Tigris River, where non-Iraqi Arab fighters seemed to be in control of several districts.

Humanitarian aid

The urgent need for humanitarian aid also heightened today as civilians in many parts of the country struggled with shortages of food, medicine and clean water.

Several major international aid groups are demanding swift access to Iraqi civilians, without interference from coalition forces.

Meanwhile, US officials told Fox News that intelligence officers with the CIA have launched an 'extensive operation' in Baghdad and throughout Iraq to find scientists who would be able to point out where Iraq's weapons of mass destruction are or where they were made.

The intelligence effort is in addition to the special operations teams specifically designed to find and test possible weapons materials gathered from sites across the country.