Two cruise missiles struck a residential area in Baghdad today, killing 14 people, Iraqi defence officials said. It was the worst reported instance of civilian deaths since the bombing campaign began a week ago.

Military chiefs hinted today that they believed Saddam Hussein’s regime may have been responsible for the daylight bombing of a Baghdad market which left many civilians dead.

Fourteen people were killed today when two cruise missiles hit a residential neighbourhood in northern Baghdad, Iraqi defence officials said.

For the second time in a day, British and US forces launched precision strikes on Baghdad, leaving its ministry of planning in flames and Saddam Hussein’s loyalists wondering when a promised full-scale blitz would begin.

HEAVY explosions, air raid sirens and the crackle of anti-aircraft fire thundered through Baghdad last night as the Iraqi capital faced a second night of US-led attacks.