MASSIVE explosions tore through Baghdad tonight as the American "shock and awe" bombing campaign got under way.

Spectacular explosions, mushroom clouds and showers of sparks turned the horizon a hellish red as the full might of the allied aerial bombardment descended on Saddam's regime.

There were unconfirmed reports that Saddam himself had been injured in the earlier bomb attacks launched on the first night of the offensive.

And General Tommy Franks confirmed that some senior Iraqis had opened surrender talks - although it was unclear if this was the Iraqi government or isolated Republican Guard units.

Huge palls of smoke billowed up from burning buildings across the capital as the campaign against Saddam Hussein entered a new devastating phase.

Pentagon sources had promised that tonight would be the start of the ''shock and awe'' phase of the war.

Dozens of cruise missiles and bombs came down across the city as seemingly impotent anti-aircraft tracer fire streaked across the night sky.

The attack seemed relentless with explosions erupting every few seconds.

A wave of B-52 bombers, which left RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire this morning, is thought to have spearheaded the attack.

Earlier the ITV News channel reported that eight cruise missiles had been fired from the USS Bunker Hill in the Gulf.

The aerial bombardment came as coalition troops took control of key areas of southern Iraq.

Tonight United States and British forces were on the outskirts of the second city of Basra, Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce said.

21/03/2003