Two Iraqi missiles hit Kuwait desert

Two Iraqi missiles hit the northern Kuwait desert today, prompting US and British military units to don chemical protection suits and gas masks, Kuwaiti defence ministry and other sources said.

An interior ministry official said that investigations so far had shown the missiles were not carrying chemical or biological materials.

Kuwait state television said the missiles were three-tonne, medium-range rockets. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

"It looks like a Chinese-made surface-to-surface missile, probably fired from Iraq's al-Faw peninsula," one of the Kuwaiti officials said.

"It seems they were trying to hit the American camp at Doha but missed," he added, referring to a large US-run military facility north of Kuwait City.

Reporters attached to one US military unit in the area said the soldiers were ordered to put on their gask masks after the missiles was seen flying overhead.

British military units in the vicinity, near the Mutlaa Ridge area north of the town of Jahra, donned chemical protection suits.

The missile strike marked one of the first reprisals by Iraq after US forces began bombing Baghdad on Thursday, launching a war in which US President George W Bush has vowed to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq