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| Iraq |
| ’Many dead’ in Baghdad blast |
| 2003-03-28 |
| Another day, another Mystery Market Massacre. At least 50 civilians are believed to have been killed during an air raid on a Baghdad market, Iraqi authorities say. Graphic television pictures showed people scrabbling through rubble to reach the dead and injured amid the wreckage in the Shula residential area of the city. Reports of the blast came as coalition forces renewed night-time bombing across the Iraqi capital. Take home message: when in Baghdad, steer clear of large groups of people during air raids. Correspondents in Baghdad say there is no clear information yet on what may have caused the destruction of al-Nasser market. Dr Osama Sakhari from al-Noor Hospital near the market told Reuters news agency he had counted 55 people killed and more than 47 wounded from Friday's attack. He said one baby had died in his arms. Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed Sahaf told al-Hayat-LBC television that 58 people were dead and he expected the death toll to rise. Arabic broadcasters in Qatar and Abu Dhabi showed pictures of what they said were victims of the attack - mainly women, children and old people - as well as shots of mothers slapping themselves in grief. A Reuters correspondent who visited the scene said most of the one-storey shops in the area were destroyed. Most of the ground was covered by blood and broken glass and there was a crater about two metres (six feet) wide and half a metre deep. One man sobbed for his five-year-old son killed while playing near the vegetable market. "After this crime, I wish I could see [US President George W] Bush in order to cut him to pieces with my teeth," he said. Another man, Eyad Abadi, told the news agency: "We heard a plane flying over us. We saw a rocket coming in our direction and then we heard the explosion." Abu Dhabi television said the devastation may have been caused by a US cruise missile. But US officials at the Central Command headquarters in Qatar told the BBC they had no details yet and suggested it may have been a misfired Iraqi missile. It is not known if there are any military installations in the area. The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad - whose reports are monitored by Iraqi officials - says the incident could be the largest single loss of life in the war. He says it will be a propaganda victory for the Iraqis and Baghdad residents will see it as a further example of civilian lives being taken recklessly by the US. Only two days ago, Iraqi officials said at least 14 civilians died when another shopping area in Baghdad was hit during a coalition air strike. They added that seven more were killed and 92 injured in overnight raids on Friday. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #9 Seen the pictures. Definitely Iraqi self-bombing. BBC of course claims it is "obviously" a cruise missile (where's the evidence?) and make it their "top story". Someone at Centcom needs to make it clear it's similar to fedayeen attacks on civilians. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2003-03-29 01:11:12 |
| #8 Do you think they'd get the message if we just told them we really WERE targeting their markets? Does anyone have any doubt that if we really wanted to, we could? |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-03-28 22:18:03 |
| #7 Sounds like ol' Saddam is copying the own goal market bombing by the Muslims in Sarajevo which killed 50+ people. They blamed it on the Serbs, which was one of the triggers for Bill Clinton's "Operation Forget Monica". |
| Posted by: Jabba the Tutt 2003-03-28 21:17:16 |
| #6 The options are howitzer round, mortar round, dud SAM missile or box full o' semtex. The odds of two SAMs falling on two different markets are pretty slim. So let's exclude that. Howitzer trajectory is too shallow plus the odds of missing are too great, especially when dealing with semiliterate Arab farm boys manning the guns. Mortar has a better trajectory, but the mission failure risk is similarly high. Occam's Razor sez: box full o' semtex. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-03-28 18:53:39 |
| #5 Your right those are artillary rounds. Their shelling their own damd people. Two Markets in two days. I wonder if it will happen again. Three times a charm. |
| Posted by: George 2003-03-28 18:20:49 |
| #4 That was exactly my point, paj. Maybe next time they invite Al-Jazeera for live coverage? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-03-28 17:54:54 |
| #3 2 meters x.5 meters for the crater. Does any one out there really think the ordanance the USAF is using is leaving that small of a hole. I'm starting to wonder if the RG is firing artillery into the city |
| Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-03-28 17:34:03 |
| #2 TGA - Why, indeed? Iraq can easily blow up bombs in the market. If it was American, they would neither hear the plane nor see a rocket. |
| Posted by: paj 2003-03-28 17:32:42 |
| #1 I don't know, every time civilians get hit it's a market so that many people get killed and more can watch. If there is another "market attack" I don't believe in miracles anymore. Why should America target a market or strike one in error all the time? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-03-28 17:16:11 |