'Apocalypse Now' music fires up US troops for raid

US troops psyched up on a musical reprise from Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now before crashing into Iraqi homes to hunt gunmen yesterday, as Shiite Muslims rallied against the US occupation of Iraq.

With the strains of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries still ringing in their ears, soldiers of the First Battalion of the 124th Infantry Regiment rammed vehicles into metal gates and hundreds of troops raided houses in the western city of Ramadi after sunrise as part of a drive to quell a spate of attacks on US forces.

A previously unknown group, calling itself the Iraqi National Front of Fedayeen, vowed to intensify assaults on American troops until they leave Iraq.