350 civilians killed since start of war, says Iraq

IRAQ yesterday said more than 350 Iraqi civilians had been killed since the United States and Britain invaded one week ago, with women, children and elderly people making up most of the victims.

Health Minister Umeed Midhat Mubarak accused US and British forces of using cluster bombs and other weapons to frighten civilians and maximise damage.

“Most of these martyrs and victims are children, women and elderly people who cannot afford to protect themselves,” Mr Mubarak said, speaking in English at a Baghdad news conference. “So you see that those aggressors, the Americans and the English and their allies, are targeting civilians in Iraq, regardless of their age,” he added.

He added that in all more than 4,000 civilians had been killed and injured in the war, which Washington and London launched on March 20 to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Fear of civilian casualties helped motivate large anti-war protests around the world, and has been heavily publicised by Arab-language media.

Mr Mubarak said that in Baghdad alone, 36 people had been killed over the last 24 hours by air strikes.

On Wednesday, two explosions devastated a busy Baghdad residential street, killing as many as 14 people. Iraqi witnesses blamed the blasts on a twin US missile attack.

US defence officials said an errant missile may have been responsible for the blasts, but added that it was also possible that a misfired Iraqi anti-aircraft missile or anti-aircraft artillery could be to blame. They said the US military had reviewed its targets in the Baghdad area for Wednesday and concluded that it had not dropped any weapons close to the Baghdad street that was hit.

Mr Mubarak said: “They try to do their best to terrorise our people by using a certain kind of bomb that causes panic among people.”