The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed two RAF jets were scrambled from their base on Cyprus earlier this week to investigate two aircraft travelling from the direction of Syria.

A US Army soldier who was critically injured when trapped between two trucks tonight become the first official US casualty of Operation Enduring Freedom, the campaign against terrorism, officials said.

America geared up for war yesterday with Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, warning the country's servicemen that they would be called on to vanquish "powerful and terrible enemies" in the months ahead.