Cruise missiles and bombs pounded targets in Baghdad in the opening of what General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint chiefs, called a "massive air campaign." Explosions were heard across the ancient city of 5 million people and anti-aircraft fire lit the sky. Targets included government ministries and compounds thought to house Iraqi leaders and security forces.

At least two other cities, Mosul and Kirkuk, also were under attack on the third night of the war.

"The regime is starting to lose control of the country," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news briefing. Allied forces control "a growing portion of the country" and the Iraqi forces are "beginning to suspect the regime is history."

The Rumaila area, whose 20 billion barrels of total reserves make it the biggest deposit in southern Iraq, is now secure, and Umm Qasr, an Iraqi port city south of Basra, the second-largest city, was also seized, Myers said.

Allied ground forces have pushed 100 miles into Iraq. Planes have flown "more than 1,000" sorties already and "several hundred military targets will be hit over the coming hours."

"We're basically on our plan and moving toward Baghdad," said Myers, who briefed reporters along with Rumsfeld.

'Little Resistance'

Two U.S. Marines have been killed in the war, and eight Royal Marines and four U.S. airmen died in a helicopter crash in Kuwait, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

"A few hundred" Iraqi soldiers have surrendered and "lots of others" have defected, Myers said.

"So far, there's been very little resistance to our troops in the south," U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC.

Control of Umm Qasr gives access to the Persian Gulf, allowing easier delivery of military supplies and humanitarian aid to Iraq's citizens.

U.K. Admiral Michael Boyce, chief of U.K. defense forces, said seven oil wells in the Rumaila fields were on fire, rather than 30 earlier reported. Iraqi troops filled trenches with oil and set them on fire, leading to confusion in the count, Boyce said.

In western Iraq, U.S. troops seized two airfields where Hussein is believed to have Scud missiles as well as key air- defense installations, Myers said. In the 1991 war, Iraq fired several dozen Scuds into Israel. Neutralizing that threat is a primary early objective this time, U.S. officials have said.

Stocks Rise

U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average wiping out year-to-date-losses.

The S&P 500 and Dow have gained for eight days on optimism the war will end in days or weeks and spark a recovery in consumer and business spending. The S&P 500 has added 9.4 percent during the rally and the Dow has risen 10.1 percent.

In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 50 and the Stoxx 600 rose, to post their biggest weekly gains since September 2001.

Crude oil fell for a seventh day as the seizure of Rumaila, increased the chances that oil facilities will survive the war with limited damage.

'Stop Fighting'

Rumsfeld warned the Iraqi military to ignore any orders to burn oil wells, blow up dams, use weapons of mass destruction or employ civilians as "human shields."

Both he and Myers urged all Iraqis to surrender. "I urge you in the strongest possible terms: Do the honorable thing, stop fighting," Myers said.

Rumsfeld said all care is taken to safeguard civilians and "the weapons that are being used today have a degree of precision that was never dreamt of."

"This is not an attack on the Iraqi people," he said. Iraqis are "a repressed people" and "will be able to see that the targets we are going after are military targets."

"It's important to remember that this attack is against a regime that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people," Rumsfeld said.

Targeting Hussein

The U.S. opened the war with what it said was a targeted strike aimed directly at Hussein and other top Iraqi leaders. Iraqi officials said Hussein is still alive and he appeared on television several hours after the attack.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has decided the voice on that tape was Hussein's although "there's no conclusive evidence as to whether it was taped before or after" the strike, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

Allied troops may be in Baghdad in three or four days, the BBC said, citing an unidentified U.K. military official.

In Washington, Bush briefed congressional leaders on the war's progress. A chief critic, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, said it's "time to put aside policy differences."

"Now is the time to be united," Daschle, of South Dakota, said in an interview on CNN. The Democratic Party was split by Bush's stance to forcibly disarm Hussein. In the Senate, 29 Democrats joined 48 Republicans last year to back Bush. Most of those who voted no support the effort now that it's begun.

Protests against the war continued in other capitals. More than 150,000 demonstrators turned out in Athens in the second massive anti-war demonstration in the Greek capital in as many days, Agence France-Presse reported. Security forces arrested anti- U.S. demonstrators in Cairo and in the Indian city of Kashmir, AFP said.

French President Jacques Chirac repeated his contention that the attack on Iraq is illegal. He said France wouldn't accept a U.S.-British post-war administration of Iraq, saying only the United Nations could be responsible for rebuilding the country.

"France will not accept a resolution tending to legitimize the military intervention and giving the American and English belligerents powers over the administration of Iraq," he told a press conference after a summit of the European Union.