US Military Strikes in Baghdad Today Result in the Death of 4 Journalists - 2003-04-08

US military strikes in Baghdad today resulted in the death of four journalists and injuries to several members of news teams. The Arabic satellite television network Al Jazeera reported that during today's bombardment, its office in Baghdad was also targeted, resulting in the death of its journalist, Tareq Ayoub, who was Jordanian. Shortly thereafter, a Ukrainian cameraman working for Reuters and a cameraman from a Spanish television network were killed by tank fire from an American tank that shot towards the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, with several others injured. The commander of the 3rd Infantry Division of the US told reporters that the tank fire was in response to gunfire coming from inside the hotel towards US forces. The enemy had also fired a grenade at American soldiers using a flare. A spokesperson for the US Central Command expressed regret over the deaths of the journalists and stated that US forces do not intentionally fire at any journalists. According to officials from a private Polish television station, two journalists working for that station who had been captured by Iraqi security forces managed to escape from their captors. Iraqi security agents had taken the two Polish journalists to a village near Baghdad and interrogated them there. However, when fighting broke out in that location, they seized the opportunity and escaped from the Iraqi agents.