NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 25 (AFP) - US tanks and other military vehicles moved to within 20 metres (yards) of the gates of the Imam Ali shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf, where Shiite militiamen are holed up, early Wednesday after continous overnight mortar and tank fire, an AFP reporter witnessed.
The closest US vehicle stopped just 20 metres from the gate of the mosque compound, one of the most revered Shiite Muslim shrines in the world, at around 7:30 am (0330 GMT), the correspondent inside the shrine said.
Makeshift barricades set up to protect the entrance to the compound were torched, as flames licked upwards into the early morning sky.
Tanks could also be seen moving about 80 metres from the gate, heading along the western side of the compound wall towards the surrounding Old City.
The AFP correspondent said he could hear Bradley armoured vehicles moving elsewhere as they closed in after a night of heavy fire from the US side.
Iraqi security troops, who were deployed in the Old City on Tuesday, were nowhere to be seen, he added.