Baghdad and its southeastern outskirts came under heavy bombardment again late tonight.
The renewed strikes began just before 8 p.m. and hit targets including a building at President Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace compound, a key symbol of his quarter-century grip on power.
Flames shot into the sky amid violent explosions that topped the ferocity of the four other air raids launched by US-British forces on the city earlier in the day.
The latest bombardment, among the most fearsome since the campaign to oust Saddam began eight days ago, lasted 15 minutes. Anti-aircraft artillery responded to the attack but no air raid sirens sounded.
The explosions rocked the hotel housing the few remaining journalists in the Iraqi capital.
The city center was still illuminated and the odd car was seen on the streets of the capital as the sky cleared following the passage of a blinding sandstorm, allowing Baghdad residents to see the traces of anti-aircraft defenses' fire in the night sky.