A 7.3 magnitude earthquake near the Iraq-Iran border has killed more than 400 people and sent residents fleeing their homes into the night, authorities said.

Insurgents today bombed an Iraqi bridge, badly damaging a span over the main north-south highway leading from Baghdad, police reported.

US troops stormed into the heart of Baghdad yesterday, grabbing two of President Saddam Hussein's palace compounds but losing four dead on the fringes of the capital as Iraqi forces fought back fiercely.