Baghdad market hit, 14 killed

At least 14 civilians died when a shopping area in northern Baghdad was hit by missiles during ongoing coalition airstrikes, but U.S. officials deny targeting the residential neighborhood.

The BBC’s Andrew Gilligan observed buildings burned, their contents scattered over a wide area and several cars on fire in the Al-Shaab district.

Sky News correspondent David Chater found “scenes of chaos” in the busy row of shops, with many people injured by shrapnel and concrete.

An angry crowd of several hundred people quickly gathered in the area shouting, “Down with Bush” and “Long live Saddam.”

The Iraqi director of civil defense in the local district, Hamad Abdallah al-Dulaimi, said missiles crashed into buildings that housed car mechanics’ garages and shops on the ground floor and private apartments above. He said 14 people were killed and approximately 30 were injured.

Associated Press Television News footage showed a large crater in the street, a smoldering building, burned out cars and bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting in the back of a pickup truck.

Officials at U.S. Central Command are investigating the incident and so far have ruled out an errant airstrike as the cause.

“Coalition air forces did not target the market, nor were any bombs or missiles dropped in the Shaab district,” Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced at a Pentagon press briefing this afternoon.

“We do know for a fact that something landed in the Shaab district,” McChrystal said. “But we do not know if it was U.S. or Iraqi.”

Another explanation, according to McChrystal, may be that a surface-to-surface missile missed its target.

“Once we have better clarity, we’ll get that to you,” he told reporters.

At least 40 explosions were reported yesterday afternoon and overnight, most of them concentrated in the southern end of Baghdad, as coalition forces continue airstrikes on strategic military targets.

Iraq’s satellite television was knocked off the air for approximately six hours.

In the first six days of battle, coalition forces have launched 4,300 precision-guided weapons and 600 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

At a press briefing at Central Command headquarters in Doha, Qatar, this morning Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks emphasized the high degree of precision employed in the use of these weapons.

“We have a very, very deliberate process for targets. It takes into account all science. It takes into account all possibilities,” he said. “We only target things that have military significance.”

An Aviation Ordnanceman inventories bombs on the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln.

When reporters pressed for video or the number of errant bombs dropped by coalition forces, Brooks said he didn’t know the number and that there were no images of unsuccessful attacks. He explained that the strikes have all hit within the predicted margin of error and if targets are missed in the first pass, they’re sometimes hit again.

“Unfortunately, there may be civilian casualties in the prosecution of war,” he added.”We’ll take every effort to try to minimize the potential effects on [civilians]. That’s the best we can do.”

Amid a barrage of questions seeking evidence of failings on the part of coalition forces, Brooks underscored the atrocities of the Iraqi regime which he said had shown its “true colors” in recent days. Among the atrocities he cited were the report of an Iraqi soldier found strapped with explosives and wearing a U.S. uniform and reports that Iraqis were rigging bridges for demolition.

“Iraqi civilians are being marched out on the battlefield in front of Iraqi troops,” said Brooks. “Iraqis are killing Iraqis.”