US tanks attack Saddam stronghold

US TROOPS yesterday launched a battle for Saddam Hussein’s last stronghold of Tikrit, with hundreds of tanks said to be attacking the northern city despite a surrender offer by tribal leaders.

As witnesses reported the sounds of fierce fighting from the outskirts of Tikrit, a spokesman for the US Central Command (Centcom) in Qatar, said:

“We have forces in Tikrit. We are actively engaging any forces we need to.”