US forces thunderedsintosthe heart of Baghdad yesterday, storming a presidential palace and briefly placing tanks outside the Information Ministry, a message to President Saddam Hussein's regime that coalition forces could enter the Iraqi capital "at will."

　　US tanks briefly also surrounded Al-Rashid Hotel,swheresIraqi snipers fired on US soldiers. US tanks returned fire with their main guns and .50 caliber machine guns.

　　A US commander said resistance comingsintosthe city was heavier than expected as Iraqi troops laid new minefields and set up new firing positions.

　　Yesterday afternoon, nearly 10 hours after the battle began, the city continued to be rocked by explosions from areas on the west bank of the Tigris,swheresa fierce battle was thought to be raging.

　　More than 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles took part in the early morning raid under cover of tank-killing A-10 planes and pilotless drones.

　　Two Marines were killed and two others wounded when their armored troop carrier took a direct hit from an artillery shell at a bridge over a canal on the outskirts of Baghdad, according to Lieutenant Colonel B.P. McCoy of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines.

　　About a half hour later, Marines swarmedsintosthe capital on foot, crossing a bridge spanning a canal at the south edge of the city, meeting little resistance.

　　Also, asgroupsof US armored personnel carriers was hit by rockets in southern Baghdad, according to field reports.

　　Six American soldiers were reported missing and a large number wounded.

　　There was no estimate of Iraqi casualties from the raids, but about 100 Iraqis in military uniform were killed in fighting at Baghdad's international airport in a seven-hour battle that ended shortly after midnight.

　　An official at Baghdad's al-Kindi hospital said at least 75 wounded civilians had been brought in since the morning, most suffering from gun shot wounds, burns and shrapnel.

　　US Navy Lieutenant Mark Kitchens, a Central Command spokesman, acknowledged that the Baghdad raid yesterday was a "different kind of mission" than Saturday's drive through the city.

　　"It proceeded on a much slower pace and did a lot more activity than we did in our previous entry," he said.

　　Asked if troops might stay in Baghdad, he said, "I think that would be a possibility."

　　US officials have said that up to 3,000 Iraqi fighters may have been killed in that initial incursion.

　　Tanks with US 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division barreledsintosthe Iraqi capital on the western side of the Tigris at 6 am. Iraqi fighters with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades put up moderate resistance as the tanks approached the city along Highway 8.

　　"I do believe this city is freakin' ours," boasted Captain Chris Carter.However, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf declared, "I reassure you Baghdad is safe."

　　"They are beginning to commit suicide at the walls of Baghdad," al-Sahhaf told reporters in a news conference outside the Palestine Hotel,swheresmany foreign journalists are staying. "There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad, none at all."

　　By noon, explosions and small-arms and machine gun fire continued from the southern section of the Old Palace compound, 5 kilometers from the New Palace. The intensity suggested a fierce battle between US troops and Iraqi defenders.

　　Iraq radio broadcast a religious sermon urging Iraqis to fight and denouncing the United States and Britain. Iraqi TV broadcast patriotic songs, footage of Iraqis chanting slogans in support of Saddam and archival material of the Iraqi leader firing a gun and greeting crowds.

　　The US Army columns moved northeast to the newest and main presidential palace on the river, which divides the capital.

　　The palace, which is near Saddam's Baath Party headquarters, apparently was used mainly as a residence rather than for administrative purposes. The party headquarters have been destroyed, although it wasn't clear when the damage was done.