DESERT STORM: DAY 22 : Military

The allies pounded Baghdad with bombs and missiles for 12 hours overnight. Iraqi officials said the raids on the capital killed 22 civilians and injured many others. Baghdad radio broadcast a commentary after the raids, saying Iraq “is waiting impatiently” for a ground war to begin.

Two allied F-15s shot down at least two Iraqi planes fleeing to Iran, Marine Brig. Gen. Richard I. Neal said in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He said two Iraqi SU-22s, and perhaps three, were shot down while flying to Iran. Neal said four other Iraqi planes were downed Wednesday. Two of the planes, initially listed as “probably” shot down, were confirmed. A Navy FA-18 fighter was lost in the northern Persian Gulf while returning to an aircraft carrier after a mission, the U.S. Central Command said. Rescuers were searching for the pilot, who was listed as missing.

Iraq is moving antiaircraft guns into civilian neighborhoods in Baghdad and Kuwait city to deter allied strikes against the defensive weapons, U.S. military officials said. They said that none of the gun positions have been attacked but that the matter is under study by Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces.

The battleship Wisconsin joined its sister ship, the Missouri, as its 16-inch guns fired 11 rounds at targets in Kuwait.