As the first day of the US-led attack on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah came to a close, tens of rebels were reported to have been killed.
More than 10,000 US and Iraqi government troops launched air and ground attacks in the city earlier in the day when they were given the green light by Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
Speaking in Baghdad, Mr Allawi said he was determined to clear Fallujah of what he described as terrorists, and he announced a number of measures, including the imposition of a curfew and the closure of Baghdad's international airport for 48 hours.
Most of Fallujah's 200,000 inhabitants are believed to have fled the fighting, although thousands are said to be still holed up in buildings around the city for fear of looting on their homes.
Water and electricity supplies have been cut, and medics have expressed dismay at the shortage of essential supplies.
However, speaking from Washington, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the fighting will continue until the US and Iraqi troops can rid the rebel stronghold of terrorists.
The US military says up to 6,000 rebels are in the city, including supporters of Saddam Hussein and foreigners led by the Jordanian militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Five policemen killed in Baghdad
A suicide car bomber killed five policemen tonight outside a Baghdad hospital where victims of two church bombings earlier in the night were being treated.
At least three people were killed and 40 injured in two car bomb explosions outside the two churches in central Baghdad.
The victims from the church bombings were taken to Yarmouk hospital, where a suicide bomber later drove into four police cars parked outside the entrance.
In central Iraq, a soldier from Britain's Black Watch battle group has been killed and two others wounded in a suspected roadside bomb explosion.
