US troops have arrested at least 20 insurgents in a raid in northern Iraq, but they failed to capture their main target – Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a former Saddam deputy and the King of Clubs in the most wanted list.

Fifty-four Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as US forces used battle tanks and cannons to fight their way out of two simultaneous ambushes, the military said today.

US officials tonight vowed that the international coalition will not be broken by roadside ambushes that increasingly targeted US allies.

US troops arrested the wife and daughter of a top Saddam Hussein deputy suspected of masterminding attacks on US troops, and a major pipeline linking northern Iraqi oilfields to the country’s biggest refinery was ablaze today.

Mortar and tank fire lit up the night sky over Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit as US forces mounted a massive show of force to pin down resistance fighters.