The US Defence Department has banned Google map-making teams from making detailed street-level video maps of American military bases after images of one ended up on the popular internet site.

ALLIED warplanes and special forces were yesterday targeting Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace and stronghold.

THE US military yesterday said it had found the body of the bodyguard of Iraqi commander “Chemical Ali,” but Iraq dismissed reports the military chief himself may have died in an air strike.

United States ground forces made a bold daytime raid into the Iraqi capital today as other coalition troops moved in from the south to test the strength of President Saddam Hussein’s defenders, who are believed to have fallen back for an urban battle, officials said.

US aircraft have dropped more than 2,000 precision-guided bombs on Iraq since the start of the war, a feat made possible partly because the “smart” bombs are now produced for a relatively cheap $19,000 each.