On Sunday, intense fighting continued in Baghdad and Basra as U.S. and British forces tightened their grip in the last major bastions of resistance in the country

Dozens of mortars were fired on Baghdad Sunday morning as the air and ground battle entered into its 18th day. U.S. Marines tightened their ring around Baghdad and, in the southwest, a large convoy from the Third Infantry Division crossed the Euphrates River. Around midnight and in the early morning hours, heavy explosions could be heard near Baghdad's center. Eyewitnesses reported that shelling could be heard throughout the night -- especially in the southern and western outskirts of Baghdad. Despite Iraqi reports to the contrary, Iraq's international airport appeared to be under American control. Several television channels broadcast images of American soldiers occupying the airport's terminal building. It remained unclear Sunday whether the Iraqi government still has the capacity to direct its own troops. Iraqi state television broadcast a taped message from Saddam Hussein in which he called on his citizens to "humiliate the criminals." "Suicide is the fate of all greedy invaders, and their grave will be here in Baghdad," he said.