Tuesday, 6 April, 2004 US struggles to quell Iraq revolt
|  US troops have been involved in the street-to-street fighting in Falluja
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Up to 12 US marines have been killed and about 20 others injured in a major assault by Iraqi insurgents in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, the Pentagon says.
The attack came on a day of battles across Iraq as Shia and Sunni Muslim gunmen fought the US-led coalition.
A top Pentagon official said dozens of Iraqis hit the marines near Ramadi's governor palace and "a significant number" of them were killed.
In nearby Falluja, over 20 people were reported killed in a US air strike.
Doctors are reported to have counted 26 dead, among them women and children, the BBC's Caroline Hawley in Iraq reports.
The US offensive in Falluja has been under way since Monday to subdue the city after four Americans were killed and their bodies mutilated there last week.
US troops - using tanks and helicopter gunships - have been involved in the street-to-street fighting to subdue insurgents armed with guns and rocket propelled grenades.
Both Ramadi and Falluja lie in the so-called "Sunni triangle" - a hotbed of anti-coalition activity.
There was also further violence in Shia areas, as coalition forces battled militias loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr for a third day.
Mr Sadr remains surrounded by armed supporters in the holy city of Najaf.
His militia, known as the Mehdi Army, has staged violent demonstrations and attacked US-led forces in several Iraqi cities.
In a separate incident, Italian troops killed 15 Iraqis in clashes with Shia militants in the southern city of Nasiriya.
Well over 100 Iraqis, including civilians, have been killed since the Shia-led violence erupted over the weekend, our correspondent says.
More than 20 coalition troops have also been killed in what has become a second front. The combat had previously involved mainly Sunni supporters of the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
The latest unrest was triggered by the closure of Mr Sadr's al-Hawza newspaper a week ago on the grounds that it was inciting violence.
Dilemmas
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said there were no plans to send additional troops to Iraq, after earlier reports that the Pentagon was considering such an option.
He told a news conference there were about 135,000 US troops in Iraq.
This was an increase from previous levels of about 115,000, because a massive changeover of forces was taking place, but the number was set to go down again, he said.
Mr Rumsfeld said US commanders had not asked for reinforcements: "At the present time they have not requested a change in their plan."
The BBC's Nick Childs at the Pentagon says the timing and the nature of the latest violence may make it the most serious potential threat to the US-led coalition in Iraq for nearly a year.
He says US commanders face a series of dilemmas, but their priority is how and when to deal with Mr Sadr.
A warrant has been issued for Mr Sadr's arrest in connection with the killing of a rival cleric, Abdel-Majid al-Khoei, in Najaf in April 2003.
One of Mr Sadr's top aides, Mustafa Yacoubi, has already been arrested in connection with the murder, but the cleric denies involvement.
WATCH AND LISTEN The BBC's Nick Childs
"This was a very deadly battle"
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