54 Killed or Wounded as Missile Hits Baghdad; Iraq Bombs Iran

An Iranian missile exploded in a crowded Baghdad neighborhood Thursday night, killing or wounding at least 54 people.

It was the sixth long-range missile fired into the Iraqi capital since Iran began an offensive aimed at Basra, to the southeast, two weeks ago.

Earlier, Iran reported that at least 212 of its civilians were killed in attacks Thursday by Iraqi warplanes.

A big explosion was heard across Baghdad, a city of 4 million people, when the missile landed. Residents said the missile hit a highly populated area, damaging a school, a mosque, several shops and about 10 cars. Dozens sought treatment for minor wounds.

Iraq has stepped up its air war in recent months and has reported daily raids on Iranian cities since Jan. 9, when Iranian forces crossed the Shatt al Arab waterway in their drive toward Basra.

Baghdad’s official news agency said that warplanes flew 394 combat missions Thursday, including raids on a dozen Iranian cities and two raids on the shrine city of Qom. Iran claimed that in addition to the 212 killed, the bombs wounded more than 600 civilians, hitting mosques, a school and a bus in one western city.

Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported earlier that 100 civilians were killed in an air raid Wednesday on a residential area of Qom.

The agency quoted Kamal Kharrazi, head of the war information headquarters in Tehran, as saying that Iran’s ground offensive is aimed at “destroying the Iraqi war machine and not capturing the city of Basra.”

“Once the Iraqi war machine is demolished, then the capture of not only Basra but other Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, will be easy,” he said.

Foreign analysts have said that Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, is in no immediate danger but that Iraq can only drive the Iranians from their foothold east of Basra with a costly counterattack.

In Washington, U.S. intelligence reports on the fighting said Thursday that the Iranians have advanced slightly along the northern bank of the Shatt al Arab waterway, but they have not crossed it and are not in a position to threaten Basra.

The intelligence assessment, by officials with indirect access to satellite and other electronic surveillance, would contradict Iranian claims of major advances in recent days.