Dubai: Faced with little resistance, the invading US forces on April 3 moved towards Baghdad from two directions and were 10 km away from the Iraqi capital as they raided one of Saddam Hussein's palaces near the city's international airport.

As the war entered a "decisive phase" in its third week, US special forces raided a palace used by President Saddam Hussein outside Baghdad and seized documents, but made no arrests.

"The raid did not yield any regime officials, but documents were seized," brigadier general Vincent Brooks told a briefing at US Central Command headquarters in Qatar. He declined to provide any information on the nature of the material seized.

Amid reports that Iraq's Republican Guards were moving South of the capital to defend it, US troops of the 3rd Infantry Division controlled a key intersection South of Baghdad and were just 10 km away from the city centre, US commanders claimed.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf denied that US forces were pushing towards Baghdad.

Replying to reports from the US military that its troops were as close as one km from the centre of the capital, Sahhaf said they were "not even 100 miles" from Baghdad.

He said 27 civilians were killed in the latest coalition raids on Baghdad, while hospital sources said eight people were killed and five wounded when a missile hit a vegetable market in the capital.

PTI