Missile Lands Close to Kuwait City Mall

www.washingtonpost.com ^ | 3-28-03 | Rueters

[Kay Soze]

Reuters Friday, March 28, 2003; 6:27 PM

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Debris lay scattered around a Kuwait City shopping mall on Saturday, Reuters correspondents at the scene said, after a blast that witnesses said was caused by a missile that landed nearby.

Reuters correspondent William Maclean said the Al-Sharqiah cinema, which was part of the seafront mall in the Souq Sharq district, showed signs of damage to its frontage and roofing but it was unclear whether it had been struck by a missile.

There was a smell of smoke in the area.

A policeman at the scene told Reuters he had seen a missile land in the sea. Other witnesses said the missile appeared to fly in over the sea from the direction of Iraq's Faw peninsula.

Several missiles have been launched at Kuwait from Iraq since the U.S. -led war against Iraq began. Kuwaiti officials say previous missiles launched at Kuwait have all been shot down by Patriot batteries or landed harmlessly in unpopulated areas.

[cake_crumb]

Oh...so it was a Reuters reporter citing hearsay. Still no confirmation of the actual cause yet.

[laz17]

Will the morally bankrupt critics of America protest the Iraqis targeting civilians with missiles? No, of course not. They only condemn the good guys, and give the bad guys a free pass, because they are bad guys themselves.

[laz17]

It was just reported on Fox that fragments of an Iraqi missile were found at the site.

[leadpenny]

Close? Pictures on MSNBC show that it hit right in the center of the Mall.

[steve86]

MSNBC showing light or moderate destruction to mall from AL Jezeera (sp) video. My question: Why do the sheet metal parts, presumably from the weapon, have English writing on them? Not Russian, not Chinese, not Arabic. A fin was clearly visible but the scale (size) was not clear. Could it have been a suicide aircraft attack or a drone?

[CatOwner]

Maybe to add the doubt to the Kuwaiti's that it might have been a coalition force's missile.

[AntiGuv]

From AP:

KUWAIT CITY - A missile fell into the sea and exploded near a major shopping mall in Kuwait City early Saturday, but officials said it caused no injuries and little damage.

Police Brig. Ahmed al-Rujaid said the missile landed at about 1:45 a.m. (5:45 p.m. EST Friday) close to the Souq Sharq mall.

[First_Salute]

MSNBC states that the missile fell into the sea.

What missile are you instead referring to?

[CatOwner]

Apparently there were two missiles.

[kesg]

Will the morally bankrupt critics of America protest the Iraqis targeting civilians with missiles? No, of course not. They only condemn the good guys, and give the bad guys a free pass, because they are bad guys themselves.

No kidding. Far more Iraqi civilians (and others) will die because of the deliberate actions of Saddam's SS goon squads than at the accidental actions of coalition forces. I am beyond sick and tired of this double standard, especially when practiced by our own media.

[leadpenny]

Not the MSNBC I'm watching. They are showing missile parts at the mall.

[FootBall]

Yea...ENGLISH writing on missile part..."PROTRACT" written on Missile fragment.

[Destro]

No one heard an air siren so maybe it was a planted bomb???

[struwwelpeter]

I think that it's some renegade East Germans. They've been too quiet lately.

[Normal4me]

I saw that too. Clearly showed a '5420' on a piece of metal. Perhaps a Patriot missile that went astray???

[fhayek]

Fox reporter says missile appeared to have arabic writing on it.

[GLDNGUN]

I saw that too. Clearly showed a '5420' on a piece of metal. Perhaps a Patriot missile that went astray???

Very well could be. This would explain why the Irwacky missile made a touchdown, instead of getting blown out of the sky.

[FootBall]

Maybe this was a PATRIOT intercepting a SCUD near ground level?....Arabic plus English writings?

[Normal4me]

I was on MSNBC watching it but thier feed was from Abu Yabbayabbadu or whatever that station is...Who knows?