US tanks roll into Najaf to crush rebels

US tanks pushed into Najaf's vast cemetery-turned-battlefield yesterday as helicopter gunships fired on Shiite militiamen hiding there.

American patrols with loudspeakers went through the city, warning militants to leave or face death.

Explosions shook the streets and black smoke rose over parts of Najaf, but the fighting with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia appeared more sporadic than in recent days.