Columns of smoke were seen rising from President Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace compound in the heart Baghdad, which had been struck earlier in the day.

The latest attack began at 5:00 pm local time (1400 GMT). But it was not immediately clear if the latest raid had targeted the complex.

Telephone exchanges were reportedly among the targets hit, and US military officials claimed its troops were within 30 kilometers of the capital.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iraqi Information Minister Saeed al-Sahafsaid that overnight bombardment by US-led forces killed 24 civilians and injured 186 across the country while US-led coalition forces claimed they are advancing closer to Baghdad.

Also on Wednesday, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein issued a new statement urging Iraqis to fight on and defend their towns.

According to a broadcast Wednesday on Iraqi satellite television, Saddam declared that "victory is at hand."

In his latest statement, read by an Iraqi news anchor dressed in a military uniform, Saddam repeatedly called upon his people to fight and said the Iraqi armed forces have not used their full capabilities in the battle.

"Fight them so that Iraq, the bastion of religion and principles, will be secured and our (Islamic) nation will come out of this crisis glorious," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the United States said on Wednesday its troops had destroyed one of the six divisions of the elite Republican Guard defending Iraq's capital, and had inflicted serious damage on two others.

"Our land component initiated a two corps attack to destroy Republican Guard positions defending Baghdad. First Marine Expeditionary Force attacked the Baghdad Division near the town of al Kut," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters.

"The Baghdad Division was destroyed," Brooks, deputy director of operations for the war fighting Central Command, told a press briefing held at war headquarters in Qatar.

When asked to explain what "destroyed" means, Brooks said: "That means it is no longer effective at conducting combat operations as a cohesive force.

"It may mean that we have killed or captured a considerable number of the force to make that possible, and in this case that's what we are seeing," he said.

He gave no details of casualties.

Also on Wednesday, US military said its B-52 bombers have dropped new precision-guided 454 kilogram "cluster" bombs on Iraqi tanks defending Baghdad.

As American ground forces launched all-out assaults on Republican Guards defending the Iraqi capital, the US Central Command's air component command said six CBU-105 bombs, which each dispense 10 armor-destroying bomblets, were dropped for the first time ever on Tuesday "to stop an Iraqi tank column from continuing its route" toward the attackers.

The release did not provide any battle damage assessment of the afternoon bombing in central Iraq or say exactly where the attack occurred. The controversial weapons are new and upgraded versions of older munitions that have been adapted to allow for wind and weather conditions to make them more accurate.

Cluster bombs, which spread dangerous explosives on the ground that explode when they are rolled over by tanks, are controversial because they can also cause injuries to unsuspecting civilians.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2003)