 Bombed out building in Baghdad presidential compound |
Missiles struck central Baghdad again at dawn on Saturday, just hours after a massive air assault by US and UK forces. Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said 207 civilians had been injured in the overnight raids which he denounced as the work of "criminals".
Fighting has continued in the south of Iraq with mixed reports of resistance as well as mass surrender by Iraqi troops.
Turkey sent more than 1,000 troops across its border into northern Iraq overnight, against US wishes.
 Flashes lit up the night sky and plumes of flame and ash shot hundreds of feet into the air  |
UK officials say seven crewmembers died when two Royal Navy helicopters crashed in what they said was an accident over international waters in the Gulf. The mid-air collision followed the deaths of 12 British and US marines in another helicopter crash in Kuwait on Thursday.
'Shock and awe' campaign
Baghdad was rocked by a fresh round of explosions on Saturday, hours after a major escalation of the US-led bombing campaign.
Bombed-out building in Baghdad presidential compound |
More than 1,000 cruise missiles were fired at the Iraqi capital overnight, US officials said. Hundreds of bombing missions were also flown, they said.
The BBC's Andrew Gilligan in Baghdad, whose reporting is being monitored by Iraqi officials, says there has been no independent confirmation of the numbers of injured.
But he adds the intensity of the attacks meant it was very likely that people would have been hurt and killed.
Yet the lights and phones still work and traffic continues to flow as people make their way around Baghdad, he says.
A presidential palace was on fire after the bombings, as were offices of the foreign ministry and the deputy prime minister.
A senior US defence official was quoted by the French AFP news agency as saying US and British warplanes were flying from more than 30 bases in a dozen countries and five aircraft carriers.
US B-52 bombers flew from the UK's RAF Fairford base to launch cruise missiles on Baghdad, while US-based B-2 bombers were on a 38-hour round trip to drop satellite-guided bombs, he said.
Turkish advance
There were also attacks on the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk where US forces hope to secure important oilfields.
Iraqi Kurds - allies of the US in the north - are angry at the incursions by Turkish troops, reports the BBC's Jim Muir from the region. Turkey says it needs to protect its national security and prevent a mass influx of refugees but our correspondent say the Kurds fear the operation is directed at them rather than the Iraqi army.
Washington was also opposed to the move, fearing clashes between the Turks and Iraqi Kurdish forces who control an autonomous area in northern Iraq.
The Turkish action came as it opened its airspace to warplanes from the US-led coalition after protracted wrangling.
Southern operation
US-led ground forces have advanced about 160 kilometres (100 miles) into Iraq from the south, according to the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Richard Myers.
The commander of Iraq's 51st Infantry Division surrendered to US marines advancing towards Basra, American and British officials say.
But it is not known how many of his troops also gave themselves up. Iraq denies any desertions of senior officers.
 Basra is the immediate southern objective, correspondents say |
Officials in Washington said the surrenders were a sign that the rule of Saddam Hussein was crumbling. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said: "The regime is starting to lose control of their country."
A US marines officer said a "major battle" is taking place on the western outskirts of Basra.
The BBC's defence correspondent at the US Central Command in Qatar, Jonathan Marcus, says that is part of the coalition's continuing eastern push.
But once the city is secured, the main force is likely to move on towards Baghdad rather than establishing full control, he says.
In the port city of Umm Qasr, there are still pockets of Iraqi resistance, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports.
A US Marines officer says a "major battle" is taking place on the western outskirts of Basra.
HAVE YOUR SAY War will bring freedom to the ordinary people of Iraq Abdul, Kabul, Afghanistan |
UK and US officials said American marines captured the city on Friday. As Iraq's only deep-water port it is seen as crucial for importing aid for the Iraqi civilian population.
Stiff resistance was also reported as the US 3rd Infantry Division moved towards the centre of Iraq and tried to seize an airfield near the city of Nasirya.
In other developments:
- Iraqi Kurds say about 70 US missiles were fired at an area close to the border with Iran held by Islamic extremists, the Ansar al-Islam, with more strikes expected
- Iran's official news agency says rockets have landed on its side of the Iraq border, quoting a military commander; it adds that US and UK aircraft have continued to violate Iranian airspace
- Saddam Hussein decrees that any Iraqi who captures an enemy soldier will get a reward of about $32,000, Iraq's government-run news agency reports; the reward for killing an enemy soldier was put at about $16,000
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