By Chris Tomlinson
In the Kuwaiti desert - The United States Third Infantry Division's artillery opened fire on Thursday on Iraqi troops, using Paladin self-propelled howitzers and multiple launch rocket systems in the first stage of the ground war.
Major General Bufourd Blount, the division commander, had said the artillery barrage would signal the first phase of the ground war against Iraq.
White light glowed in the sky above the cannons as dozens of artillery shells were fired. Explosions inside Iraq could be heard.
Infantrymen who were between the howitzers and the Iraqi border cheered as the shells screamed overhead.
Blount had said on Wednesday that the artillery shelling would take place all along the entire Kuwait-Iraq border.
There were no reports from other parts of the sector but witnesses along the northeastern corner of the frontier reported hearing heavy detonations. - Sapa-AP