Bombers blitz Iraqi command centres

AN armada of B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers struck communication and command centres in Baghdad, and cruise missiles set Iraq’s information Ministry ablaze yesterday in the second such attack on the building in two days.

The fire, yards away from a shopping mall named for Saddam Hussein’s birthday, was put out after a half-hour.

Recorded calls of “God is great” from mosque minarets alerted the people of Baghdad to another night of bombings late Sunday, followed by a huge explosion and then the streaks of anti-aircraft tracers across the sky. In the past few nights, the mosque loudspeakers have been used as air-raid sirens, with the all-clear signalled by another announcement: “God is great, they are gone.”