Baghdad, Iraq — U.S. Marines, hunting for Iraqi leaders believed to be meeting nearby, engaged in a heavy firefight Thursday with Iraqis holed up in a mosque, and warplanes targeted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's half brother.
U.S.-led forces were trying to finish off Saddam's leadership as its grip on Baghdad fell to pieces. But even amid celebrations by city residents, there were signs the war was not over: A suicide attacker set off a bomb, wounding four Marines, and Iraqi artillery shells apparently hit an Army-held compound.
Marines battled Iraqi fighters in and around the Imam Mosque in northern Baghdad for seven hours until they captured the mosque. One Marine was killed and 22 others wounded. U.S. Central Command said the Marines captured 18 Iraqis along with weapons and explosives.
The Marines had been tipped that Iraqi leaders were meeting at a Baath Party official's home near the mosque and near the al-Azimiyah Palace when they came under fire from the mosque area.
Hours later, warplanes fired six satellite-guided bombs before dawn today at an intelligence building in Ramadi, a town west of Baghdad, believing that Saddam's half brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, was inside.
Al-Tikriti, a former head of the secret police, is a close adviser to Saddam and allegedly helped hide millions of dollars abroad while ambassador to Switzerland.
Since the war's first day, U.S. forces have been aiming to decapitate the regime, though the results have been unsure. Saddam apparently survived a strike against him on the first night of bombing; on Monday, warplanes leveled a Baghdad building where officials thought the Iraqi president was, though there has been no confirmation. A strike the same day in the southern city of Basra is thought to have killed Saddam's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, a military commander.
A U.S. soldier directs an elderly Iraqi woman outside the Al Monsour hotel in Baghdad. Hundreds looted the hotel Thursday, as U.S. forces watched without interfering. During Baghdad's first full day without Saddam's rule, U.S. troops were ordered to discourage looting.
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