At least 15 people are reported dead following an apparent air raid on a poor residential area of northern Baghdad. Reuters correspondents said they had counted at least 15 bodies lying in a street, where several shops and apartment buildings were badlydamaged.
Charred bodies and mangled cars littered the area, sparkingfury among crowds of Iraqis, after what witnesses and localofficials said was a missile strike.
Reuters correspondents at the scene said they had counted atleast 15 bodies. Some lay in the wreckage of burned out cars.
Fire engines and ambulances raced to the area as firesblazed in shattered buildings. Flames spewed from an oil tanker.US military officials said they could not confirm theincident."We're seeing those same reports. We're looking into it,"said one U.S. official at American military headquarters inDoha.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the UnitedStates took extreme caution to avoid civilian casualties, butaccidents sometimes happened. "In this case, we're not sure,"the official said.
One resident said the missiles hit the busy street, which islined by ground-floor shops underneath residential apartmentblocks, at around 11:30 a.m. (0830 GMT). He said he believed asmany as 27 people had been killed in the attack.
Haneed Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi defence unit for thedistrict, said: "There are at least 13 killed and some 30injured. Two missiles hit the street."
He said there were no military facilities in the area.The United States and Britain have pounded targets in andaround Baghdad with repeated air raids since the war to oustPresident Saddam Hussein began on Thursday.
They say they are using precision-guided bombs and missileswhich can destroy military and government targets while keepingcivilian casualties to a minimum.
Iraqi and Arab television stations broadcast footage of theaftermath of the attack, showing bloodied corpses and angrycrowds - images likely to stir outrage in the Arab world andamong opponents of the war.