- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - About
40 large explosions struck the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital
Baghdad early on Wednesday and another hit an area housing the television
center, Reuters witnesses said.
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- The United States said it had targeted Iraqi television
and satellite communications in an effort to damage President Saddam Hussein's
ability to control the country.
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- The blasts continued for nearly three hours starting
at dawn. "They are really pounding the area," said Reuters correspondent
Nadim Ladki, adding that buildings in the city center were shaking.
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- Saddam's trusted Republican Guards are believed to be
dug in on the southern flank of the city to defend it against invading
U.S. and British forces.
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- No anti-aircraft fire could be seen and air raid sirens
remained silent in the city of over five million people.
-
- Ladki said smoke could be seen rising from an area of
Baghdad where the Information Ministry and television station are situated.
-
- "Not long before daybreak, the coalition struck
Iraq's main television station, as well as a key telecommunications vault
and Baghdad satellite communications, damaging the regime's command and
control capability," a U.S. official said in Washington.
-
- He said Tomahawk cruise missiles and bombs were used.
-
- On Wednesday morning, Iraq's satellite television was
showing either a blank screen or sporadic still pictures which suggested
technicians were struggling to bring it back.
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- Iraq's domestic television normally does not start broadcasting
until later in the day. State radio was working.
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- Late on Tuesday night several large explosions were heard
in the city center and televisions in one hotel where journalists were
staying immediately went black. The television resumed broadcasting later.
-
- An official at Iraq's television station blamed a "technical
problem in the transmitters" for that blackout.
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- The Iraqi leadership widely uses television to rally
people against the invasion and carry news conferences.
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- The dawn raids on Wednesday came as a sandstorm that
has enveloped Baghdad and hampered visibility eased. The sky was cloudy
but visibility quite good.
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