The allied invasion of Iraq began last night. American
                     and British forces launched a two-pronged assault
                     on the strategic southern city of Basra.

                     Aircraft bombed targets in Baghdad, including one of
                     Saddam Hussein's houses, and Royal Marine
                     commandos and US marines stormed ashore in an
                     amphibious assault on the Faw peninsula. There
                     were unconfirmed reports that they had already
                     captured the country's main port of Umm Qasr.

                     The assault was
                     preceded by a
                     landing by US navy
                     Seal special forces,
                     members of the SBS
                     and the Royal
                     Marines brigade
                     reconnaissance
                     force which probed
                     the Iraqi forces.

                     In the second
                     prong, US marines
                     supported by the tanks of 7th Armoured Brigade
                     headed for Basra. They were expected to wait
                     outside the city until early today to give the garrison
                     time to surrender. Special forces, including the SAS
                     and SBS, were believed to be already in Basra
                     negotiating a deal with local commanders.

                                   Explosions rocked Baghdad as
                                   cruise missiles hit presidential
                                   palaces and buildings housing the
                                   Special Republican Guard, which
                                   controls security in the capital. A
                                   guards' barracks could be seen
                                   burning.

                                   Donald Rumsfeld, the American
                                   defence secretary, gave warning
                                   that the city's four million
                                   inhabitants were about to see a
                                   sustained air attack, the expected
                                   "shock and awe" campaign. It
                     would be "of a force and scope and scale that is
                     beyond what has been seen before", he said.

                     Pentagon officials said the air strikes and the
                     marines' action in southern Iraq were not the start
                     of that campaign but a tightly focused preliminary
                     phase designed to hit command and control targets
                     and demoralise the Iraqi forces.

                     Helicopters carrying
                     troops from the 82nd
                     Airborne Division and
                     16 Air Assault Brigade
                     were seen flying over
                     the Kuwaiti border
                     towards southern
                     oilfields. As a red glow
                     lit the horizon, there
                     were reports that the
                     Iraqis had set fire to
                     three or four oil wells,
                     adding urgency to the
                     troops' mission to
                     secure the rest.

                     The only Iraqi military
                     response was a series
                     of four missile attacks
                     on Kuwait, two believed to be Scud Bs, which
                     Saddam has denied having. In a sign of the
                     depleted state of his missile arsenal, the other two
                     were Silkworm-type anti-ship missiles fired at
                     ground forces.

                     At least one of the missiles was shot down by an
                     American Patriot missile battery without injury or
                     damage. Tests by Britain's joint nuclear, biological
                     and chemical regiment showed that the warheads
                     carried no traces of chemical or biological agents.

                     Iraq claimed to
                     have shot down
                     two helicopters, but
                     the US said they
                     crash-landed and
                     that no one was
                     hurt. 

                     The allied attacks
                     followed a surprise
                     departure from the
                     original battle plan
                     when cruise
                     missiles and F117 Nighthawk stealth bombers
                     attacked a building in southern Baghdad early
                     yesterday after intelligence showed that Saddam
                     and his two sons, Uday and Qusay, were there.

                     Intelligence sources said that despite reports that
                     the attack had failed to kill the Iraqi leader, it was
                     "still not clear" if he was alive.

                     As the cruise missiles fired by American ships and
                     Royal Navy submarines in the Gulf and the Red Sea
                     sped towards Baghdad, RAF Tornado GR4s took off
                     from the Ali al-Salim air base in Kuwait to join wave
                     after wave of attacks that also included US air force
                     F15 Strike Eagle and US navy FA18 Hornet ground
                     attack aircraft.

                     Artillery including the 32 AS90 155mm self-propelled
                     guns of the 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
                     blasted Iraqi front-line positions, softening them up
                     before the invasion.

                     The artillery attacks were co-ordinated by allied
                     special forces, including the SAS and SBS, whose
                     presence inside Iraq was confirmed by Geoff Hoon,
                     the Defence Secretary, in the Commons. He warned
                     MPs that the war might not be as short as some
                     expected and that it would it be risky and difficult.

                     The Queen sent a message to British troops, saying:
                     "May your mission be swift and decisive, your
                     courage steady and true and your conduct in the
                     highest traditions of your service both in waging war
                     and bringing peace."

                     Tony Blair, in a television address, appealed for the
                     country to unite behind the armed forces. He said:
                     "They are the finest in the world and their families
                     and all of Britain can have great pride in them."