The world will have to wait to find out whether Saddam Hussein died the latest “decapitation” strike against him, a US military commander said today.

A US plane was shot down by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile, it was revealed today.

Baghdad was under renewed heavy bombardment tonight as US troops engaged in fierce battles with Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guards protecting the approaches to the Iraqi capital.

US forces have been bombarding elite Iraqi Republican Guard positions south of Baghdad, a senior coalition commander said today.

British soldiers destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks near the city of Basra today in what was said to be the largest tank battle involving UK forces since the Second World War.

The missile which landed on a Baghdad shopping street killing and injuring scores of civilians was probably a stray Iraqi weapon, a senior US military commander said today.

Military chiefs hinted today that they believed Saddam Hussein’s regime may have been responsible for the daylight bombing of a Baghdad market which left many civilians dead.