Pentagon officials have described the early stages of the military operation against Iraq as a "decapitation attack" to eliminate President Saddam Hussein.

However, the officials said it cannot be ascertained whether the operation was a success since it was difficult to target a single person o­n the ground in such bombings.

A CNN report said two dozen cruise missiles were fired from US warships stationed in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. F117 stealth fighters - which carried two missiles each - were also involved in the pre-dawn raid which started at 5.30am Iraqi time (11.30am Malaysian time).

The attack came about 90 minutes after the 48-hour deadline given to Saddam and his two sons to leave the country expired.