Shaab blasts: What happened?

Shaab blasts: What happened?

At least 14 people were killed in the Shaab district

The world's media continues to focus on the controversial explosions which, according to the Iraqi authorities, caused the deaths of at least 14 civilians and injured 30 more in northern Baghdad on Wednesday.

But it is still not clear exactly what caused the blasts in a shopping street in the Shaab district.

The Iraqis say the coalition forces have been targeting civilians in their bombing.

The US - which says it is doing everything possible to avoid civilian casualties - has not admitted responsibility for the deaths.

Our correspondents in Baghdad who visited the scenes of devastation and spoke to eyewitnesses were unable to find an obvious military target in the area.

Eyewitness: Shock and anger

The BBC's Andrew Gilligan said: "What seemed to be two missiles landed in a busy shopping parade. But he added: "The nearest military building, civil defence headquarters, is I have to say at least quarter of a mile away."

Initial briefings from Central Command headquarters in Qatar said coalition aircraft, using precision guided weapons, had targeted nine Iraqi missiles and launchers in Baghdad during Wednesday.

It said the Iraqis had placed the missiles in a residential area less than 100 metres (300 feet) from homes.

Later on Wednesday, the Pentagon insisted that they did not target the market area in Baghdad.

'Anti-aircraft possibility'

Major General Stanley McChrystal of the US joint staff said he did not know whether the explosions were caused by a stray US weapon or perhaps Iraqi anti-aircraft missiles that fell back to earth.

A US military spokesman at coalition Central Command said: "Our early intelligence report provides no conclusive evidence that we have caused the damage in the civilian marketplace.

We won't have a final answer until we're in Baghdad ourselves. We may never know

Brig Gen Vincent Brooks

"One possibility and high probability is that it was caused from the fallout from the regime's anti-aircraft fire."

But the BBC's Andrew Gilligan says that explanation is "unlikely because we simply haven't heard any anti-aircraft fire in the city for the past four days".

'Targets accounted for'

On Thursday, coalition forces continued to suggest that the explosions could have been caused by Iraqi ordnance or even direct sabotage by the Iraqis.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said in a briefing at Central Command that the Iraqis were using old missiles and firing them without radar guidance to prevent detection by US and UK aircraft.

An angry crowd gathered at the scene

"I think it's entirely possible that this may in fact have been an Iraqi missile that went up and came down, or given the behaviour of the regime lately, it may have been a deliberate attack," he said.

Brig Gen Brooks said US aircraft were attacking Baghdad at the time of the incident on Wednesday, but that the targets were "in a different area" of the Iraqi capital.

He said a US investigation had determined that all US missiles fired during the period had hit their intended targets.

But he added: "We won't have a final answer until we're in Baghdad ourselves. We may never know."