The soldiers poured fuel on the bombs before setting them on fire to explode the ordnance.

Dozens of homes were razed to the ground in the Anglo-American bombing that also killed donkeys and chickens, the correspondent said.

Two U.S. and British aircraft dropped laser-guided munitions on an Iraqi radio relay facility near the western desert outpost of Rutba on Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command confirmed.

"The Coalition targeted the station to erode the command and control capabilities of regime leaders," a statement claimed, restating part of the strategy of U.S.-led invasion forces.

"A full assessment of the strike's effectiveness is in progress," added the statement.

Rutba lies 125 kilometers (75 miles) east of Iraq's border with Jordan and 320 kilometers (200 miles) from Baghdad.

Republican Guards Gearing For Baghdad Battle

Iraq brought up reinforcements for Republican Guard units defending the approaches to Baghdad, U.S. officers said Tuesday, as the occupation troops pressed their operations ahead of an expected major push on the capital.

The U.S. army's elite 101st Airborne Division stepped up its campaign around the city of An-Najaf, 150 kilometers (95 miles) from Baghdad, flying in Apache and Kiowa attack helicopters to support infantry troops, officers said.

U.S. commanders have said their troops were within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the capital, with some signaling a major tank battle could be shaping up in the next week.

The U.S. army's 20,000-strong 3rd Infantry Division, supported by the 101st Airborne, was south of Baghdad and geared for an attack. Two formations of U.S. marines were to its east.

Officers said mixed and matched elements of five Republican Guard divisions, elite troops backed by heavy armor, manned a southern arc in front of Baghdad, bracing for a decisive drive in the nearly two-week-old campaign.

There was no immediate estimate how many troops this would represent but it could run into the tens of thousands.

Iraqi divisions normally comprise 12,000-15,000 troops.

Major John Altman, intelligence officer for the 3rd Infantry Division's First Brigade, said the Iraqis were reinforcing the Republican Guard after days of punishing air strikes and probing ground attacks by U.S.-led forces.

"What's happening is that you reinforce the unit you expect to be in contact and you fill a unit that is attired," Altman told AFP near An-Najaf.

He claimed the Republican Guard's armored Medina Division had been heavily battered by days of air strikes, artillery attacks and assaults by the tank-busting Apaches.

The Iraqis brought down from north of Baghdad elements of the armored Hammurabi and mechanized Nebuchadnazzar divisions, Altman said.

Troops of the Al-Nida armored and Adnan divisions were also in place south of the capital.

"Elements of five Republican Guard divisions are oriented along the southeast and southwest of Baghdad," Altman said.

The intelligence officer said that fighting had been heavy around a key bridge that crosses the Euphrates River southwest of the Shiite Muslim city of Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Baghdad.

"We made great headway," Altman claimed. "We can easily own the ground there and use the bridge."

Colonel Greg Gass, the 101st's aviation brigade commander, described the fighting as the heaviest his forces had been involved in since the start of the war on March 20.

"They fought pretty hard from first light (into the afternoon)," Gass admitted of the Iraqis, adding eight Apaches sustained hits "from just a hole in the rotor to significant tail damage."

U.S. officials also said the Army 3rd Infantry Division attacked Iraqi positions Monday, March 31, in quarries below Karbala, which like An-Najaf is a Shiite holy city.

They said elements of the 3rd Infantry Division also hit out northward at what they called pockets of Iraqi resistance in the area.