BAGHDAD, Oct 11: The marines engaged in heavy clashes with scores of guerillas near a mosque in western Iraq on Monday, leading to US air strikes which damaged the shrine and left it ablaze, the US military said.

In Baghdad, members of the Sadr militia started handing in their weapons to the authorities as part of a plan that could end the fighting in Sadr City. A spokesman said marines came under fire from around 100 guerillas near the town of Hit, about 170kms west of Baghdad, and engaged in an hour-long firefight.

"Some of the anti-Iraqi forces took up fighting positions in a mosque," the spokesman in Baghdad said. "Air strikes were called in on the mosque position. The mosque is partially damaged and is currently on fire," he said. The area has been a bastion of guerilla activity over the past 18 months, particularly around the towns of Fallujah and Ramadi, which lie just east of Hit.

Hit is on the main road that follows the Euphrates river towards Syria, a route that US forces suspect is used by foreign fighters to enter Iraq and bring supplies to guerillas. A suicide car bomber attacked a US convoy in the northern city of Mosul on Monday, killing two civilians and two US soliders, and wounding 17. -Reuters