WAR.WIRE
US central command has no comment on report of market bombing
AS-SALIYAH, Qatar (AFP) Mar 28, 2003
 The US command headquarters directing the war on Iraq had no comment early Saturday on reports from Iraqi hospital officials that 30 civilians were killed and 47 wounded in a US-led air strike that smashed into a crowded Baghdad market.

"We don't have any comment on that," said Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Owens.

"We're still trying to learn the truth of the matter.

Arab TV networks showed footage of blood-spattered corpses and wailing women beating themselves in grief. A morgue worker pulled open a drawer with two small bodies, a lifeless boy nestled in the legs of a lifeless girl.

The Iraqi information ministry said a large number of civilians had been killed and injured but gave no figures, while US officials have regularly blamed Iraq for civilian casualties.

The incident comes amid what Iraq says are mounting civilian deaths from the US-led war to topple President Saddam Hussein, which has seen US and British warplanes batter Baghdad with waves of giant bombs and cruise missiles.

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