- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Waves
of explosions rocked Baghdad overnight on Thursday as the Iraqi capital
marked a grim week since the start of a U.S.-led war aimed at ousting President
Saddam Hussein.
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- More than 30 blasts could be heard around the city in
at least four rounds through the night, keeping sleep-deprived residents
on edge especially after up to 15 Iraqis were killed in a residential district
on Wednesday.
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- Anti-aircraft fire could be heard during the latest 10
blasts, shortly before 4 a.m. (8 p.m. EST Wednesday) and almost exactly
a week since U.S.-led forces began the war on March 20 with a dawn raid
at 5:33 a.m. (9:33 p.m. EST Wednesday).
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- The sky cleared during the night after sandstorms in
recent days.
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- Some of the overnight explosions were near the center
of the capital, others around the fringes of a sprawling city that is normally
home to five million people.
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- Many have left to escape the blitz of bombs and cruise
missiles with fears of an imminent battle for the city between elite Iraqi
troops loyal to Saddam and U.S.-led forces advancing from the south and
already less than 100 miles away.
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- Up to 15 Iraqis were killed in a Baghdad street on Wednesday
in what residents said was a U.S. missile strike. It was the highest civilian
death toll in any explosion in the city since the war began.
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- The United States denied that it had intentionally targeted
the Shaab residential district in the capital, but the Pentagon left open
the possibility that a missile or bomb had gone astray.
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- Other strikes in the past week have battered Saddam's
palaces and government and military buildings. Washington and London accuse
Saddam of hiding weapons of mass destruction, a charge he denies.
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- The first strikes on Baghdad a week ago hit Saddam's
home in a targeted bid to kill the Iraqi leader. But Saddam has since appeared
several times on television and ministers say he is still firmly in command.
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- As part of its defenses, Baghdad lit giant fires in oil-filled
trenches on Saturday, casting a thick black pall over the city meant as
a smokescreen to protect against the strikes.
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- But modern weapons are usually guided by satellite and
so are unaffected by the smoke.
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- At night, Baghdad residents are staying at home or in
bomb shelters, emerging by day to buy food and to check on relatives and
friends.
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