Coalition forces close in on Baghdad as battles rage on

DRIVING night and day, more than 70 American tanks and 60 armoured troop carriers raced 700 miles across rough desert terrain, a bold flanking movement that placed US forces less than a day's march from Baghdad yesterday.

The 3rd Infantry division, 2nd Brigade, also known as the Spartans, covered 228 miles in less than 40 hours to take up fighting positions ahead of all US forces, about 100 miles from the Iraqi capital.

Late Saturday, the brigade encountered dozens of Iraqi vehicles mounted with machine guns and fought until dawn Sunday, destroying 15 vehicles, killing at least 100 Iraqi militiamen and capturing 20 prisoners of war.