An Iraqi Air Force aircraft crash killed four US Air Force staff and one Iraqi, the American military said today.

Russia’s security chief said today that his agency has uncovered US, British, Kuwaiti and Saudi spy activity that was being conducted under the cover of non-governmental organisations.

Diana Elias, Kuwait City

A KUWAITI man convicted of murder was hanged yesterday for shooting and then slitting the throat of a one-time friend with whom he had been arguing over money.

An advance team of Japanese soldiers crossed into southern Iraq today in a controversial humanitarian mission marking Japan’s most-dangerous overseas deployment since the Second World War.

A convoy of American special forces and Kurdish civilians came under attack today in what witnesses described as another friendly-fire incident.

An Iraqi missile was shot down by a Patriot missile defence battery today before it could reach Kuwait, a military spokesman said.

A MAN in civilian clothes drove a pick-up truck into a group of US soldiers standing outside a store at the Kuwaiti desert base of Camp Udairi yesterday.

A low-flying Iraqi missile has hit Kuwait City wrecking a seaside shopping mall.

Britain's Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed regret today over the “tragic” deaths of two British soldiers whose tank was mistaken for Iraqi armour and destroyed by “friendly fire“.

THE key city of Basra is no stranger to scenes of civilian uprising against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein – or the bloody aftermath following the withdrawal of western allies.

COALITION forces were last night poised to take the strategic city of Basra as the war against Saddam Hussein looked like entering a new phase.

As Allied troops established their positions throughout the day, one British military spokesman said they could be on the streets of Baghdad within three to four days.

Here is a summary of the latest attack developments in the Iraq war.

In a country wracked by war and constant bloodshed the key city of Basra has been at the centre of all turmoil.

ORANGE flames could be seen yesterday on the horizon in the direction of the southern Iraqi oil centre Basra, and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said three or four oil wells may have been set on fire.

US and British ground troops invaded southern Iraq from Kuwait tonight in a gradual escalation of the war to drive Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power.

Fifteen Iraqis have surrendered to American forces on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border today, a US Army officer said.

Allied troops invading Iraq will face millions of landmines scattered across the country, some of which were planted by US forces during the last war, military officials said today.

ONCE bitten, twice as eager, an Irish doctor is heading for Iraq to prepare for the inevitable humanitarian crisis that will follow war.

Allied soldiers stationed in the Kuwaiti desert today got the order to break camp and be ready to move within hours after President Bush gave Saddam Hussein a deadline to leave his country or face attack.

IN a country wracked by war and constant bloodshed the key city of Basra has been at the centre of all turmoil.

Military officials in the United States were today investigating what caused a Black Hawk helicopter carrying 13 soldiers to crash during a training mission in upstate New York.

American troop reinforcements arrive in Kuwait daily in the biggest military buildup in the region since the Gulf War – but it’s hard to tell.

Two Kuwaitis shot at US Marines during war games on an island off the Gulf state today, killing one and wounding another in what the Kuwaiti government called a terrorist act. Fellow Marines shot dead the assailants.

Two gunmen killed a US marine and injured a second American during war games on a Kuwaiti island today.

Iraq claims it has shot down an unmanned US spy plane over its southern no-fly zone.

A US Air Force unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has failed to return from a mission over southern Iraq and may have been shot down.