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Air raids hit Baghdad, artillery fire to south

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

BAGHDAD, March 31 (Reuters) - An intense artillery barrage opened up on Baghdad's southern outskirts on Monday as warplanes from the US-led invasion force screamed low over the Iraqi capital and large explosions shook the city centre.

A palace complex used by President Saddam Hussein's powerful son Qusay was hit in an afternoon air raid which sent clouds of white smoke spewing into the sky over central Baghdad.

To the south, an artillery barrage could be heard.

"The artillery fire is suddenly very intense. We can hear it coming from the south. It's unusual," said Reuters correspondent Samia Nakhoul.

Reuters correspondent Nadim Ladki said the sound of explosions also seemed to be coming from the west of the city, from the direction of Saddam International Airport.

On the 12th day of the war, US combat units closed to within 80 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, battling Republican Guards and other Iraqi units for a bridge over the Euphrates river at Hindiya, between Kerbala and Hilla.

Qusay's palace complex was hit several times on Monday. His compound on the west bank of the river Tigris was also targeted on Sunday and was hit by several missiles in the first days of the US-led war to overthrow Saddam, which started on March 20.

Raids on Monday also struck Baghdad's Information Ministry and at least two telephone exchanges. A cruise missile hit the roof of the Information Ministry overnight, smashing glass panels and damaging satellite dishes.

A Reuters reporter who visited the scene was not allowed to go inside the building to survey further damage.

TELEVISION DISRUPTED

Domestic state television, used by Saddam to address the nation, was off the air in the morning. A source at the ministry said the disruption was probably caused by the bomb damage.

Daily broadcasts began at about 12:30 p.m. (0930 GMT), four hours later than usual, showing singers dressed as soldiers waving assault rifles and singing songs in praise of Saddam.

Iraq's international satellite channel kept broadcasting while the domestic channel was off the air.

It was the second attack in three days on Iraq's official information headquarters. The blasts also triggered a fire near the ministry complex. Smoke and dust billowed high into the sky and fire fighters rushed to try to tame the blaze.

The raids also scored two direct hits on the city centre telephone exchange, flattening the six-storey building and leaving it a heap of rubble and twisted metal. The exchange was also bombed in the 1991 Gulf War and later rebuilt.

The hit brings to seven the number of exchanges knocked out in the bombings. There are about 20 exchanges in Baghdad, but making a telephone call is already almost impossible without resort to satellite communications.

US-led forces also mounted a sustained series of bombings on the city outskirts where Republican Guard units are believed to be dug in to defend the capital.

Air raids have increased in intensity over the past 48 hours. US Central Command said on Monday that the overnight air raids had been conducted by B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers in what it called a "historic bomber package" -- the first time the three had been used to strike the same area at the same time.

Iraq says 62 people were killed and 49 wounded in a devastating explosion in a crowded Baghdad market on Friday which it blames on a US attack.

The United States is still checking whether its forces were responsible. US officials have suggested that a previous blast in separate Baghdad market might have been caused by an Iraqi anti-aircraft missile crashing back to earth.-Reuters