Key developments in the war in Iraq

:: Coalition forces struck Baghdad with Tomahawk missiles and bombs, hitting Iraqi state-run TV headquarters and other key communication hubs. The signal from Iraqi Satellite TV went off the air around 1.30am Irish time today. The country’s domestic TV service was not broadcasting at the time, but it resumed broadcasting later today, as did state radio.

:: British forces surrounding Basra fought with more than 1,000 Iraqi militia, trying to secure the key southern city and open the way for delivery of humanitarian aid. British officials said there appeared to be civilian resistance under way against Saddam Hussein’s regime.

:: US Army forces killed between 150 and 500 Iraqi troops after coming under attack near the central city of Najaf, a senior defence official said.

:: Two British soldiers were killed in a “friendly fire” incident with a British tank near Basra in southern Iraq, a military commander said.

:: Sandstorms slowed US and British forces to a crawl and thwarted air missions yesterday as US-led forces edged closer to Baghdad. In the south, British forces captured a senior Iraqi official and killed 20 fighters.

:: Turkey will send forces up to 12 miles into northern Iraq to stop refugees, but only if a crisis situation develops, Turkey’s foreign minister said.

:: US war strategists are proceeding on the assumption Saddam Hussein is alive even though information on his fate remains inconclusive, Bush administration officials said.

:: US President George Bush, seeking $75bn (€70bn) as a down payment for war in Iraq, said coalition forces are “on a steady advance” but that he could not predict how long the fighting will last.

:: Coalition forces have captured nearly 4,000 Iraqi prisoners as of last night, a senior Pentagon official said.

:: The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for today after Arab and non-aligned nations demanded an open meeting to express their opposition to the US-led war on Iraq.

:: With food dwindling for millions of Iraqis, a UN aid agency is to make its biggest single request for cash – more than £600m (€886m) to help feed the war-stricken nation for about six months.

:: Two planes from the Gulf brought 27 US injured soldiers to a military hospital in Germany yesterday, including five who were wounded in Iraq.

:: The US Army sergeant suspected in a deadly grenade attack in Kuwait was moved to Germany after a military magistrate found probable cause that the soldier committed the crime, the Army said. A second serviceman died yesterday from wounds suffered in the attack, which also injured 14 soldiers.