Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai died in a blaze of gunfire and rockets Tuesday, the US military said, claiming their deaths will blunt Iraqi resistance to the American occupation.

This is an undated photo of former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein with his sons, Odai, left, and Qusai. Odai and Qusai were killed in a six-hour firefight Tuesday, July 22, 2003 when US forces surrounded and then stormed a palatial villa in a northern Iraqi town, a senior American general said. [AP]

It was the most successful American operation since the war and comes as a much-needed tonic for US troops, who recently have suffered a dozen attacks a day.

Acting on a tip from an Iraqi informant, US forces mounted a six-hour operation in which they surrounded and then stormed a palatial villa in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters in Baghdad.

Four coalition soldiers were wounded and two other Iraqis were killed in the raid, but Saddam was not among them. The house belonged to a Saddam cousin, a tribal leader in the region.

"We are certain that Odai and Qusai were killed today," Sanchez said. "The bodies were in such a condition where you could identify them."

The daily attacks on US occupation troops are thought to be the work of former military officers and Baath Party leaders loyal to Saddam and his family - especially the sons, who played primary roles in the military and feared security services.

"Outstanding," said 1st Lt. Greg Wilson, 33, with the Florida Army National Guard in the northeast section of Baghdad. He clapped his hands and said: "One step closer to getting home."

The White House applauded the action.

Odai Hussein, the eldest son of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, is seen on the Tigris River, in this December 12, 2000, file photo. [AP]

"Over the period of many years, these two individuals were responsible for countless atrocities committed against the Iraqi people and they can no longer cast a shadow of hate on Iraq," it said in a statement.

Secretary of State Colin Powell echoed those remarks.

"I was pleased to learn that these two brutal members of Saddam's regime are no longer a threat," Powell said in a statement. "The Iraqi people are safer today. We will pursue the other members of his murderous regime wherever they might be hiding."

"This will contribute significantly to reducing attacks on coalition soldiers," said Ahmad Chalabi, a delegate from Iraq's Governing Council, speaking at the United Nations.

Sanchez said he thought the security situation now would improve.

"I believe very firmly this will have an effect. This will prove to the Iraqi people that these two members of the Iraqi regime will never come to power again," the general said.

After the firefight in Mosul, about 1,000 people gathered outside the smoldering villa, some expressing delight, others cursing the Americans.

Hours later, gunfire erupted throughout Baghdad, making travel in the capital very dangerous. The shooting was believed to be celebratory as news spread of the sons' deaths.

Both Odai (pronounced oh-DEYE) and Qusai (pronounced koh-SEYE) ranked second only to their father in the deposed regime. They were Nos. 2 and 3 on the US list of 55 top former Iraqi officials wanted by Washington. The United States had offered a $25 million reward for information leading to Saddam's capture and $15 million each for his sons.

Tracer fire from light machine guns is seen over the cityscape of Baghdad after news reports of the possible killing of Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai, disseminate through the city, Tuesday, July 22, 2003, in Baghdad, Iraq. [AP]

In Washington, L. Paul Bremer, Iraq's top civilian administrator, said the deaths of Saddam's sons "certainly is good news for the Iraqi people."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld personally kept President Bush informed through the day.

The gunfight in Mosul broke out after soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division surrounded the stone, columned villa.

When soldiers approached the building, gunmen inside opened fire with small arms. The "suspects barricaded themselves in the house" and "resisted fiercely," Sanchez said.

"They died in a fierce gunbattle," he added.

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were working on a tip from an Iraqi informant Monday night that the sons were in the house, he said.

Asked if the United States would pay the $15 million rewards, Sanchez said: "I would expect that it probably will happen."

According to witnesses, a small force of American soldiers went to the house about 9 a.m. and asked permission to search it. The occupants refused, and the patrol withdrew until about 10 a.m., when 100 more soldiers arrived in 25 vehicles.

The Americans opened fire and took fierce return fire from inside the home, the witnesses said. Kiowa helicopters then shot rockets into the villa.

The building, in the al-Falah neighborhood, was left charred and smoldering, its high facade riddled with gaping holes from bullets and heavy weaponry.

The interior of the house was destroyed and two adjacent homes were badly damaged.

Some Mosul civilians appeared to have been caught in the crossfire. It was not known how many were injured, but several were taken to a hospital.

Once the fighting died down, Iraqi police came to help the Americans search the building.

The soldiers removed four bodies and did not let photographers take pictures. The other two bodies were tentatively identified as that of a bodyguard and a teenager, US officials said. The teen may have been a son of Qusai, they said.

Experts conducted DNA tests after the bodies were flown from Mosul to another location, officials said. But Sanchez would not answer whether the tests were positive, saying "we've used multiple, multiple sources to identify the individuals."

In the confusion of celebratory gunfire across Baghdad, a unit of the Florida Army National Guard, believing that it was coming under fire, shot a man twice in the chest and a girl who looked to be between 6 and 8 once in the head.

The man was firing a gun about 30 yards away, as the unit - attached to the 3rd Batallion, 53rd Infantry Brigade - shot back. As the unit retreated under orders, a medic treated the girl, who was taken to a hospital in a passing car.

Qusai was probably intended as Saddam's successor, according to US intelligence officials. He ran much of Iraq's security apparatus, controlling several militias, internal security services and the military forces of the once-vaunted Republican Guard.

He was described as quiet and levelheaded, particularly compared to Odai, his elder brother, who had a reputation for brutality and flamboyance. Odai controlled Saddam's Fedayeen, the paramilitary force that fought US troops during the war; many of its survivors are thought to be part of the guerrilla campaign in Iraq.

Odai also controlled information and propaganda, and was chairman of the country's Olympic committee.

Saddam has a third, younger son, according to some reports, and three daughters. All kept a low profile in his regime.

Mosul, a city 240 miles northwest of Baghdad that housed Iraqi army bases, is outside the so-called "Sunni Triangle" in central Iraq. It is home to much of the remaining support for Saddam, a Sunni Muslim who used his Baathist Party to oppress the country's Shiite majority.

The triangle is also a center of anti-American resistance: In the latest attack, Tuesday, a US soldier was killed and another wounded in an ambush along a dangerous road north of Baghdad. His death brought to 153 the number of US troops killed in action since the March 20 start of war, six more than during the 1991 Gulf War.

The US Central Command said the attackers used rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in the assault staged along the road between Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, and Ramadi, 60 miles west of the capital.

Twice during the war, information on Saddam's whereabouts was deemed solid enough that an airstrike was sent to kill him. But despite optimistic statements in the hours after each raid, US officials now believe he is alive.

Asked at Tuesday's news conference if he had any idea where is, Sanchez replied: "We remain focused on finding, fixing, killing or capturing all members of the high-value target list."

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