US warplanes have struck positions around Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's birthplace north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The US says it is sending forces north of Baghdad, and continuing airstrikes aimed at military targets in the Tikrit area.
Brig Gen Vincent Brooks said yesterday that US forces were keeping up the pressure on Tikrit to prevent Iraqi units loyal to Saddam Hussein from reaching the president's hometown.
Looting in Basra
British troops in the southern city of Basra are to take steps to curb widespread looting.
Hospitals, shops and government buildings have been stripped of much of their contents in the past few days.
A spokesman for the UK forces said many weapons would need to be collected and destroyed in the city to end law and order problems.
He indicated that once the military situation was regarded as being under control, a move towards policing could begin.
Mountain captured
US and Kurdish forces took Maqlub mountain, from which Iraqis were defending the northern city of Mosul, removing the last of the city's defences.
'That area was heavily defended by Iraqis throughout the campaign. From our perspective this is the most important gain of the northern front so far,' Hoshiyar Zebari told reporters.
Mr Zebari is a political adviser to KDP leader Massoud Barzani.
