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As air-raids sound again in Baghdad, UK ground forces have moved into Iraq, while US Marines have engaged Iraqi forces in the south of the country after crossing the Kuwaiti border.
Reports have said that US-led troops have taken the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr. They are securing positions for a thrust northward by allied troops massed near the border.
State television reports from Iraq have said that four Iraqi soldiers were killed and five wounded in the earlier assault.
In the north of Iraq, there are reports that air raid sirens have been sounding in Mosul, Iraq's second city.
Meanwhile, Iraqi radio has said that cruise missiles hit Saddam Hussein's family home in Baghdad but that there were no casualties in the strikes which began just before 6pm UK time.
Television footage of the Iraqi capital showed the city under bombardment with flashes of light visible in the night sky while anti-artillery fire could clearly be heard.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the vicinity of the foreign ministry and the planning ministry after the strikes, and buildings could been seen on fire.
The attack was far more intense than the previous strikes which launched the war against Iraq at dawn this morning.
Earlier, thousands of US troops in northern Kuwait were told to don protective chemical suits and be ready for combat.
Troops with the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armoured Regiment were told to go to "MOPP1" status - wearing chemical suits with gas masks at the ready
MOPP - or Mission-Oriented Protective Posture - is used by the military to distinguish different levels of preparedness for chemical attack.
Commanders said soldiers usually go into battle in MOPP1 status but would not say whether this meant a land attack on Iraq was imminent.
Elsewhere, an Iraqi military spokesman said that a US helicopter had been shot down.
"An American aircraft of the Sikorsky type used in carrying troops and equipment was downed as it was trying to infiltrate Iraqi airspace to carry out aggressive operations. Long live Iraq," the spokesman said in a statement read on television.
The Iraqi statement gave no further details, and US military spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.
Earlier, the US unleashed war with dawn raids in Baghdad in an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader survived and denounced "little Bush". <<
Iraq retaliated and fired two Scud missiles at Kuwait prompting US soldiers to scramble into their chemical warfare suits in a frenzy of fumbling, with troops yanking on their masks, zipping up mopsuits and jumping into foxholes.
However, a US Patriot anti-missile defence battery brought both Scuds down. Neither is believed to have been carrying chemical or biological weapons, a Kuwait Interior Ministry official said.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has since denied that Baghdad has any Scuds.
The Soviet-designed missiles have a range of up to 400 miles, exceeding the 90-mile maximum limit imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf war.
Source - www.itv.com/news/
Thanks,
Joe,
As air-raids sound again in Baghdad, UK ground forces have moved into Iraq, while US Marines have engaged Iraqi forces in the south of the country after crossing the Kuwaiti border.
Reports have said that US-led troops have taken the Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr. They are securing positions for a thrust northward by allied troops massed near the border.
State television reports from Iraq have said that four Iraqi soldiers were killed and five wounded in the earlier assault.
In the north of Iraq, there are reports that air raid sirens have been sounding in Mosul, Iraq's second city.
Meanwhile, Iraqi radio has said that cruise missiles hit Saddam Hussein's family home in Baghdad but that there were no casualties in the strikes which began just before 6pm UK time.
Television footage of the Iraqi capital showed the city under bombardment with flashes of light visible in the night sky while anti-artillery fire could clearly be heard.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the vicinity of the foreign ministry and the planning ministry after the strikes, and buildings could been seen on fire.
The attack was far more intense than the previous strikes which launched the war against Iraq at dawn this morning.
Earlier, thousands of US troops in northern Kuwait were told to don protective chemical suits and be ready for combat.
Troops with the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armoured Regiment were told to go to "MOPP1" status - wearing chemical suits with gas masks at the ready
MOPP - or Mission-Oriented Protective Posture - is used by the military to distinguish different levels of preparedness for chemical attack.
Commanders said soldiers usually go into battle in MOPP1 status but would not say whether this meant a land attack on Iraq was imminent.
Elsewhere, an Iraqi military spokesman said that a US helicopter had been shot down.
"An American aircraft of the Sikorsky type used in carrying troops and equipment was downed as it was trying to infiltrate Iraqi airspace to carry out aggressive operations. Long live Iraq," the spokesman said in a statement read on television.
The Iraqi statement gave no further details, and US military spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.
Earlier, the US unleashed war with dawn raids in Baghdad in an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader survived and denounced "little Bush". <<
Iraq retaliated and fired two Scud missiles at Kuwait prompting US soldiers to scramble into their chemical warfare suits in a frenzy of fumbling, with troops yanking on their masks, zipping up mopsuits and jumping into foxholes.
However, a US Patriot anti-missile defence battery brought both Scuds down. Neither is believed to have been carrying chemical or biological weapons, a Kuwait Interior Ministry official said.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has since denied that Baghdad has any Scuds.
The Soviet-designed missiles have a range of up to 400 miles, exceeding the 90-mile maximum limit imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf war.
Source - www.itv.com/news/
Thanks,
Joe,
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