Iraqi civilian casualties mount
At least 11 members of the same family - mostly children - have been killed in a coalition air strike on a residential district in central Iraq, western news reports say.
Hospital sources in Hilla, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Baghdad, said they were among 33 civilians killed and more than 300 injured in the attack early on Tuesday morning.
US-led forces have not commented on the incident, which follows Monday's killing of seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint near the southern city of Najaf.
US commanders said they would investigate the Najaf killing, but their first reaction was to back the troops.
Correspondents say the incidents will increase criticism of US-led troops who are continuing their advance towards Baghdad, in the face of stiff Iraqi resistance.
Key military developments:
Intelligence reports suggest that Iraq's elite Republican Guard has moved to reinforce its two most forward divisions south of the capital Baghdad as they come under more intense bombardment
Iraq says its forces have foiled a "landing attempt" by British forces near the northern city of Mosul. UK officials will neither confirm nor deny the incident
The US says it has seized an Iraqi general, who has provided information on Iraqi deployments
UK forces say their positions in southern Iraq have come under attack from short-range missiles - the first time Iraqi missiles have been aimed at targets inside Iraq rather than Kuwait.
Revenge call
The attack near Hilla began on Monday as part of the US-led advance towards Baghdad.
US forces said many Iraqis and at least one American were killed in fierce fighting there - the closest the clashes have been to the capital.
IRAQ CAMPAIGN
Hilla hospital director Murtada Abbas said the bombing had targeted the Nader residential area.
Correspondents reported seeing children wrapped in blankets on the floor of the hospital.
Among them was Razek al-Kazem al-Khafaji, who said he had lost his wife, six children, his father, his mother, and two brothers.
He said the family was fleeing fierce fighting in Nasiriya, further south, when they were attacked.
"God take our revenge on America," he was reported as saying.
Referring to the incident at a news briefing in Baghdad, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf accused coalition forces of being "racist".
"They are indiscriminately killing people," Mr al-Sahaf said. "Hilla is my hometown. It is a civilian place."
Checkpoint
US officials have backed their soldiers over the Najaf incident.
"Our soldiers on the ground have an absolute right to defend themselves," General Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
The BBC's Peter Hunt says the jittery nature of troops on the ground has been heightened by the deaths of four American soldiers on Saturday in a suicide car bomb attack.
This has been reinforced by a report of US marines killing an Iraqi who drove at speed at their checkpoint outside the southern town of Shatra, north of Nasiriya, on Tuesday.
Taken together, our correspondent says, these incidents might hamper efforts by the US-led troops to build a relationship of trust with Iraqi civilians they encounter, as they could create an impression of a force which shoots first and asks questions later.
Last Wednesday, a huge explosion which caused a large number of civilian deaths in a Baghdad shopping area.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was "increasingly probable" that it was the result of Iraqi action, rather than a coalition missile.
Advance on Baghdad
Coalition aircraft began a new round of intense bombing of Republican Guard positions on the southern outskirts of Baghdad on Tuesday.
CASUALTIES OF WAR
US: 43 military dead (including 11 in accidents, 2 under investigation), 17 missing
UK: 26 military dead (including 15 in accidents, 5 to 'friendly fire')
Iraq: Iraq: Military casualties not disclosed
Civilian casualties: Nearly 600 dead
Figures from respective governments
American military commanders believe the first clashes have started in what could turn out to be the battle for Baghdad, says the BBC's Gavin Hewitt who is travelling with the US 3rd Infantry Division.
US commanders claim that significant damage has been done, not just to Republican Guard units themselves, but to their logistics and support apparatus which makes them into a unified fighting force.
Other developments:
In a message read out on Iraqi television, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein calls on Iraqis to hit US and UK forces everywhere.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell heads for Ankara and Brussels on the first foreign trip by a senior US official since the war began.
Iraqi authorities say two buses carrying American and European "human shields" have been attacked by a US warplane on the Baghdad-Amman highway
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk
_______________________
As I said, this growing list of civilian killings will not be met kindly in the Arab world... |
