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Baghdad attacks renewed { March 29 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2897711.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2897711.stm
Last Updated: Saturday, 29 March, 2003, 13:47 GMT
Baghdad under renewed attack
Baghdad has been rocked by a fresh wave of explosions, a day after dozens of people were reported killed in a blast at a crowded marketplace in the city.
US-led forces fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraq's Information Ministry in Baghdad, US Central Command in Qatar said.
The top floors of the building, which is a base for many foreign journalists, were badly damaged. Aerials were broken and reporters' equipment strewn over the floor.
Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said the strike was aimed at stopping the world seeing television pictures of the effects of coalition bomb attacks.
In other developments:
* Up to five US soldiers are reported to have been killed in an apparent suicide attack north of the town of Najaf
* US says it will stop firing cruise missiles over parts of Saudi Arabia after the desert kingdom complains that some missiles have landed on its territory
* US warplanes have bombed a building in Basra, where about 200 paramilitaries loyal to Saddam Hussein were believed to have gathered
* An Iraqi missile landed near a shopping centre in Kuwait City, slightly injuring two people and causing some damage
Pictures of the carnage at the al-Nasser market in Baghdad's Shula district have been broadcast on Arabic satellite channels throughout the Middle East.
IRAQ CAMPAIGN
Children have been shown in agony with blood-soaked bandages on their heads and faces.
In the hospital corridors, wailing women are seen prostrate with grief.
Iraqi hospital sources said 55 people had been killed, while Mr al-Sahaf told Lebanese television that 58 people were dead and he expected the death toll to rise.
If the number of casualties is confirmed, it would be the largest single loss of civilian life since the war began.
Iraqi officials said the market was hit by an American cruise missile.
Coalition spokesmen have said it is possible that a misfiring Iraqi missile could have caused the deaths, and US Central Command said it was "still trying to learn the truth of the matter".
Shift in targets
In the latest of a wave of raids, explosions were heard in Baghdad's southern outskirts.
Earlier, American warplanes pounded suspected positions occupied by the Iraqi Republican Guard.
The BBC's Paul Wood, who is in Baghdad, says the attack on the information ministry indicates the Americans have shifted emphasis towards buildings which might have both military and civilian uses.
As coalition fighter planes pounded the Iraqi capital, defence officials denied reports that they have called a temporary halt to their advance on Baghdad.
There have been suggestions that the advance had been delayed because of Iraqi resistance and overstretched supply lines from Kuwait, up to 500 kilometres (300 miles) away.
The BBC's David Willis, who is with US marines about 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Baghdad, says some troops have had their rations cut to just one meal a day.
The Iraqi information minister called the reports a coalition "deception" and he said Iraq would "cut the snake [of coalition convoys] in half".
Iraqi satellite television, meanwhile, has shown pictures of three damaged American tanks and another vehicle abandoned near Najaf.
The presenter said the crews had fled after a confrontation with Iraqis.
Al-Jazeera television quoted an Iraqi military spokesman as saying Iraq had shot down a total of five coalition fighter planes, six drones, four helicopters and 130 cruise missiles, as well as having destroyed over 100 tanks and other armoured vehicles.
Syria, Iran warned
In another development, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused Syria of allowing the trafficking of military equipment across its border to Iraq and said it would be held accountable for what the US viewed as a hostile act.
Syria denied sending supplies and said the US was lying to try to divert attention from Iraqi civilian casualties.
Mr Rumsfeld also warned Iran - which organised anti-war rallies on Friday - against allowing Iranian-backed Iraqi rebels to cross into Iraq.
Iranian Government spokesman, Abdullah Ramazanzadeh, rejected the charges, saying: "We have stressed our policy of active neutrality time and again since before the war began."
Iraq also denied it was receiving external support.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/2897711.stm
Published: 2003/03/29 13:47:43
© BBC MMIII
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