Iraqi division of 8,000 troops ‘surrenders’
0230: Air raid sirens sound across the Iraqi capital, and minutes later explosions and anti-aircraft fire are heard. There are reports of a large pall of smoke across the south of Baghdad as dawn breaks.
0315: President Bush says coalition forces have begun striking "targets of military importance" in Iraq. It was later claimed that Saddam Hussein was in one of the compounds struck by the missiles.
0900: Iraqi scuds strike targets within Kuwait.
1550: International Red Cross reports that one person died and 14 were injured in the attacks on Baghdad overnight.
1810: US warplanes launch a major attack on central Baghdad. Targets include government offices.
1852:There are reports that US and British forces have taken the strategic Iraqi border town of Umm Qasr, north of Kuwait.
0037: A US Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter accidently crashes in northern Kuwait, killing eight British and four US soldiers.
0115: Reports that the US 7th Cavalry has been rolling unopposed across the southern Iraqi desert for more than two hours.
0530: Scores of Iraqi soldiers surrender to British troops in the south of Iraq as Royal Marines secure oil installations at the Al Faw peninsular.
0900: Soldiers from the 15th US Marine Expeditionary Unit enter the key Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.
1340: US forces seize western Iraqi airfields.
1720: The Pentagon announces the beginning of the "shock and awe" phase of the military campaign against Iraq.
1801: Massive explosions are seen across Baghdad and flames leap into the night skies.
2300: Reports claim Turkey had moved 1,000 troops into northern Iraq after giving US warplanes the right to use its airspace.
0003: An entire Iraqi division of 8,000 soldiers, surrenders to coalition forces in southern Iraq.
0118: Baghdad is ablaze overnight with thick clouds of smoke rising high over the city. Red Cross says at least 100 Iraqis have been injured by air strikes in Baghdad.
0545: Two Royal Navy Sea King Airborne Early Warning helicopters are involved in a mid-air collision six British and one US serviceman were killed.
1430 ITN reporter Terry Lloyd and two colleagues are reported missing on the way to Basra.
1643: Four US soldiers have been killed in central Iraq, taking the US death toll to 11.
2230: One soldier has died and 13 were injured when a US 101st Airborne Division camp in Kuwait is attacked with grenades. An American soldier and two Middle Eastern people have been detained over the attack.
0100: US aircraft drop four bombs in areas of northern Iraq controlled by the extremist Islamist group Ansar al Islam, suspected of links to al-Qaida.
0230: Dawn air raids on Baghdad are reported.
0931: TV viewers see live footage of a fierce battle between US Marines and Iraqi troops, who are attempting to defend positions near the port of Umm Qasr.
0956: An RAF aircraft "engaged" by a US Patriot missile.
1127: Iraq's information minister reports that 503 people were injured in heavy "shock and awe" raids in Baghdad.
1127: Iraq's information minister reports that 503 people were injured in heavy "shock and awe" raids in Baghdad and that 77 civilians have been killed in Basra.
1146: Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien says the RAF plane shot down by a Patriot missile was a Tornado.
1200: Downing Street says Prime Minister Tony Blair will talk about British losses in an interview to be recorded for the British Forces Broadcasting Service.
1201: A Ministry of Defence spokesman describes as "pure speculation" suggestions that the ground war to capture Baghdad could begin on Monday or Tuesday.
1205: A huge search begins in Baghdad for a suspected downed coalition pilot, Iraqi police patrol a river bank and fire semi-automatic weapons into the water.
1213: US military officials said they had no information of a downed plane.
1220: An eye-witness in Baghdad tells Sky News he saw a man parachute into the city
1227: Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon offers his sympathy to the families of the victims of the friendly fire incident involving an RAF Tornado.
1246: Mr Hoon confirms a British ship, the Sir Galahad, was being loaded with humanitarian supplies for the Iraqi people.
1330: Shots were fired into undergrowth and reeds set alight along a river bank in Baghdad as searches continued for the suspected downed airmen. Hundreds of people gathered at the scene with police and military.
1405: US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld said there had been a report of a missing aircraft.
1410: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein probably survived the initial bombardment of Baghdad, Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said.
1434: US confirms that it has missing troops. General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "fewer than 10" US soldiers were unaccounted for in southern Iraq.
1435: Six new explosions heard in Baghdad.
1430: Reports that four US Marines have been killed and a further 50 are wounded following eight hours of fighting close to the city of Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq.
1445: Renewed gun fights reported in Umm Qasr, US snipers fire on buildings.
1500: MoD confirm the jet involved in 'friendly fire' incident was a Tornado GR4, based at RAF Marham, Norfolk.
1525: CNN report that Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guards in south central Iraq has herded women and children into army positions to stall coalition air strikes. A reporter said that US military officials had told him an air strike had been called off when the human shields were spotted.
1537: Al-Jazeera satellite television broadcast scenes of American bodies lying dead in a makeshift morgue and interviews with American prisoners, who the station said were captured around Nasiriyah. Two of the prisoners said they were from the 507th Maintenance and one of the group was a woman.
1610: Fighting is reported to have broken out near Irbil in northern Iraq, between Iraqi troops and Kurdish forces backed by US soldiers.
:: Explosions heard in Baghdad and anti-air craft defences open fire.
1640: The Pentagon condemns footage of captured American soldiers broadcast on Iraqi television. General Richard Myers, said the video violated the Geneva Convention for the treatment of prisoners of war.
1655: US Marines confirm that they suffered six deaths and have 14 wounded following fighting in the city of Nasiriyah.
1700: ITN confirm that their TV news reporter Terry Lloyd is believed to be dead and that his two colleagues, cameraman Fred Nerac and translator Hussein Osman, are still missing. All three had disappeared on March 22 after they came under fire in Iman Anas, while travelling to Basra. In a statement, ITN said it has "received sufficient evidence" to believe that Mr Lloyd had been killed.
1709: It is revealed that Iraqi soldiers have been told in propaganda that they will be injected with poison if captured by British or American troops.
1710: Reports of explosions close to the town of Mosul, in northern Iraq.
1722: Downing Street condemns the parading of the prisoners in front of television cameras and says it expects prisoners of war to be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
1755: Kurdish military leaders claim fighting in Irbil, in northern Iraq, is between Iraqi soldiers who are trying to defect and a loyal army unit and does not involve Kurdish or US soldiers.
1800: Iraqi Defence Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed claims the country will respect the Geneva Convention and will not harm captured US soldiers.
1815: Turkish police say a bomb, believed to have been carried by a US fighter jet, has landed in Turkey's southern province, close to the Syrian border. No-one was hurt.
1827: President George Bush tonight demanded that any American troops held captive in Iraq be treated humanely and said he was pleased with the progress of the war. He said: "Saddam Hussein is losing control of his country."
1900: Prime Minister Tony Blair labels Iraqi television pictures of American POWs a "flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention."
1905: US Lt-Gen John Abizaid confirms that 12 US Army soldiers are missing following an ambush near Nasiriyah.
1926: Iraq claims that 25 American soldiers have been killed in fighting around Nasiriyah over the weekend.
1958: Explosions rocked Baghdad and anti-aircraft fire could be heard in the smoke-filled capital. It was one of the heaviest air attacks of the war so far.
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