Kuwait City ? Sirens wailed and residents scrambled for shelter Thursday in Kuwait City as Iraq launched missiles over the border in retaliation for the U.S.-led military campaign against Saddam Hussein.

Iraq fired at least four missiles across the Kuwaiti border toward troops in the desert and one toward Kuwait City. No injuries or damage were reported and there was no evidence the missiles had chemical or biological warheads.

Sailing was banned on Kuwaiti waters, and police went on the highest alert.

Civil defense sirens sounded several times throughout the day in Kuwait City, sending people rushing into bomb shelters for about 10 minutes at a time. But generally, calm prevailed.

Mario Barac Nieto of Columbia, Md., waiting at the airport for a delayed flight to Paris, said some women started crying when the alarm first sounded.

“They rushed us through the exits, down very narrow doors, three floors,” he said. “Everybody was trying to rush in but there was no panic.”

At one hotel, employees heard a siren and ran out with surgical masks on their faces. At a restaurant on the top level, diners left their plates to rush to a shelter.

Despite the war jitters, many Kuwaitis, who have stocked up on food and sealed safe rooms at home, made a conscious effort to go about business as usual.

“I’m taking my children to the pigeon market,” said 65-year-old Ali al-Khodari. “I approve of this war — anything to take the Iraqi regime out.”

The airport was still open and flights out of the country were full, mostly with Asian workers and Westerners who were told by their governments to leave.

“This is the end of waiting and wondering what is going to happen next,” said Ayyoub Mohammed, a psychologist who was preparing to join the U.S. military as a translator. He had sent his wife and daughter to Iran to live with relatives.

Retired policeman Ali Bou Hamad sat sipping sweetened tea in a diwaniya, a traditional gathering place for men. He was watching the news with a smile, happy, he said, that Iraqis will be liberated like Kuwait was 12 years ago.

“I listen to the radio of the Iraqi opposition all the time. The Iraqi people are waiting for this day,” he said, adding that he did not bother taking any precautions against possible Iraqi retaliation.

“I am not afraid. I know my country is safeguarded by Americans and other allies. If he (Saddam) tries to use chemical weapons, they will hit him with nuclear weapons,” he said.

This small oil-rich state has been a major ally of Washington since the 1991 Gulf war that liberated Kuwait from a seven-month Iraqi occupation. Most of the 300,000 forces the United States and Britain amassed for the war have gathered in Kuwait in anticipation of invading Iraq and overthrowing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.