April 8, 2003 journalist deaths by U.S. fire

On April 8, 2003, three locations in Baghdad housing journalists were fired upon by U.S. armed forces during 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing three journalists and wounding four.

Two American air-to-surface missiles hit the Qatar satellite TV station at Al Jazeera's office in Baghdad and killed Tareq Ayyoub, a Palestinian reporter, and wounded Zouhair al-Iraqi, an Iraqi cameraman. They were live broadcasting on the roof of the building. Al Jazeera accused the U.S. of intentionally targeting Al Jazeera as the U.S. bombed its Kabul bureau in 2001 during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

A U.S. Army tank fired into the 15th floor of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, where almost all foreign journalists were based. The image of the hotel had been frequently broadcast in the news, since many journalists filmed their reports nearby. The tank fire killed the Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and wounded three. José Couso of Telecinco Spanish television who was on the 14th floor also died.

At the time, Company A of the 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment was holding the west end of the al-Jumhuria Bridge. The U.S. Forces were under attack from Iraqi units on both sides of the Tigris River, including mortar fire. Earlier that morning, the battalion had captured an Iraqi two-way radio, over which they heard an Iraqi forward observer directing mortar fire against Company A. This information was relayed to the forces at the bridge, who began looking for the enemy spotter. An A-Company tank spotted an individual on a balcony on the upper floor of a high-rise building to the southeast who appeared to be observing the company with "some kind of optics" (probably Protsyuk). Assuming this was the enemy spotter, the tank commander asked for and received permission to fire. The tank fired a HEAT round at the balcony, killing Protsyuk and Couso. Prior to the incident, no one in the 4-64 had been briefed about the Palestine Hotel or its location, since the hotel was not in their sector (the east bank of the Tigris was allocated to the 1st Marine Division). U.S. forces later determined that the Iraqi artillery spotter was probably in a nearby building, not the hotel.

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Wikipedia