Saturday 01 January 2005, 18:55 Makka Time, 15:55 GMT
Fighting between US forces and armed groups has continued in and around the Iraqi capital, intensifying on the road leading to Baghdad airport.
Speaking to Aljazeera from Baghdad on Saturday, Iraqi journalist Ziyad al-Samarrai said a fierce gun battle broke out just before midnight and continued until early morning.
"In Baghdad's Haifa Street, a gun battle had erupted where about 40 US military vehicles and 200 soldiers were deployed, closing all roads," al-Samarrai said.
"The area near Baghdad's international airport also came under fire when explosions rocked the area on Saturday morning," he added.
In the Abu Ghraib district of the city, a US tank was damaged when it was hit by an explosive device, planted in an agricultural area. No further details were provided, Aljazeera said.
Beheadings, assassination
In a seperate development in the capital's western al-Khadra district, police said they had discovered two beheaded corpses in a pair of white bags.
An interior ministry official confirmed the find, and said one of the bodies was that of Muhammad Abd al-Mutallib.
Documents were left with his body that showed he worked for multi-national forces in Iraq. The second man was not named.
Meanwhile, in the Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, an unknown group assassinated a leading local Iraqi government official
on Saturday, shooting him dead and wounding his brother near the town of Baquba, police said.
Nawfal Abd al-Hussain al-Shimari, head of the council governing Diyala province, was killed in a shop.
The provincial capital, Baquba, 65km northeast of Baghdad, has been one of the main centres of the anti-US attacks.
Falluja demonstration
Meanwhile, Iraqi journalist Fadil al-Badrani told Aljazeera that thousands of Falluja residents had began to congregate to protest US policy in the ruined city.
In addition to the huge amount of destruction, al-Badrani said citizens were angry about difficulties entering the city.
"According to the protesters, dozens of houses were destroyed or burned by US forces after the citizens had returned to the city."
"A citizen said he found his house partially damaged when he returned to the city. However, US forces completely destroyed it, along with many other houses, during the last four days."
Specific demands
Many also complained of constantly having to face US forces pointing their weapons at them, he added.
Al-Badrani also said that many in the crowd were demanding that US forces withdraw immediately, allow media teams into the city to document the destruction, compensate citizens for the loss of their homes and help in reconstruction of the city.
Others expressed health concerns, particularly over rotting corpses and polluted water.
Tikrit
Elsewhere, US helicopters bombed an area near a US military base north of Tikrit city, after the base had come under mortar fire.
The US army said in a statement that it has launched a new attack on southern Baghdad, including al-Iskandariya, al-Mahmudiya, al-Latifiya and al-Yusufiya areas.
One fighter has so far been killed and nine others arrested during this operation, the statement added.
In another statement, the military said a marine was killed in Iraq's western province of al-Anbar late on Friday.