Britain said an allied thrust into Iraq was imminent after the initial operations earlier in the day.
Several hours after the US raids on Baghdad, a Kuwaiti defense ministry spokesman said an Iraqi Scud and two smaller missiles hit northern Kuwait. US Marines said one missile landed near their desert camp, shared with British troops.
A Kuwaiti defense ministry spokesman said a US Patriot anti-missile defense battery brought down two Iraqi Scuds.
The attacks prompted repeated air raid alerts in jittery Kuwait City and residents rushed into shelters.
But Iraq's information minister was quick to deny that Baghdad had any Scuds, which are banned under 1991 Gulf War ceasefire terms that also ordered Baghdad to scrap its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.
"We do not have any Scud missiles," Sahhaf said, refusing to comment on whether Iraq had shot any missiles at Kuwait.
The US and Britain had originally been pressing for the disarmament of Saddam's regime in line with UN resolutions passed after the first Gulf War in 1991. But they now say that Saddam and the top Iraqi leadership must go.
Immediately after the missile attack, Bush announced in a late-night Oval Office address that war had started.
"On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign," he said.
"To all of the men and women of the United States armed forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you," he said.
He said the war on Iraq may not be as short as he and military planners hope.
"A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict," he said.
RSS