FALLUJAH, Iraq, March 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Street battles broke out Monday between US troops and militants in the center of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, witnesses said.

    "Powerful explosions and heavy gunfire resonated throughout the city as fighters and US soldiers used different weapons in the fierce street battles that lasted several hours," local residents told Xinhua.

    The US troops blocked the roads leading to the city, and imposedban on the vehicles movement in the city, some 110 km west of Baghdad, they said.

    In addition, a roadside bomb hit an American SUV, commonly used by foreign contractors, near Fallujah on Sunday night, killing all occupants and destroying the vehicle, Xinhua correspondent said.

    The attack took place on a road north of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad. Enditem