Coalition forces were dealt another blow today when both the Iraqi satellite and domestic terrestrial TV resumed operations despite their headquarters in Baghdad being hit by missiles in a pre-dawn strike.

When the stations went off air at about 4.30am in Baghdad (9.30am Malaysian time), US Central Command had claimed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's command and control capabilities had been destroyed.

According to a BBC report, the Pentagon said the purpose of this morning's operation was to counter command and control abilities of the Iraqi regime, and also to deal with propaganda and the disinformation campaign of Baghdad.

The state-run terrestrial TV station's headquarters, which was off air at the time of the raids, has been left a smouldering wreck.

However, programmes for the TV station resumed at 9am (2pm Malaysian time) - five hours after it was knocked off air.

Meanwhile, the 24-hour international satellite channel, which stopped broadcasting at the time of the explosions in the city, came back fully o­n air at 1pm (6pm Malaysian time).

Human rights group Amnesty International has warned that the bombing of the TV station could be a breach of the Geneva Conventions.

"The bombing of a television station, simply because it is being used for the purposes of propaganda, cannot be condoned. It is a civilian object, and thus protected under international humanitarian law," the organisation said in a statement.

Meanwhile, 14 people were killed and 30 injured when a Baghdad market was hit during a strike at about 11.30am (5.30pm Malaysian time).

Reporters at the scene said an angry crowd had gathered at the scene. Some local people have said the number of dead could be as high as 45.

Grenade attack

In a another development, a second US soldier died in Kuwait yesterday from wounds sustained when a fellow soldier allegedly lobbed grenades into three tents o­n March 23.

A Washington Post report said Air Force Major Gregory Stone, 40, of Boise, Idaho, died at an Army field hospital in Kuwait.

A 27-year-old captain, Christopher Scott Seifert, was killed and 14 other soldiers were wounded in the attack near the headquarters of 1st Brigade Combat team at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait.

The report said Stone's injuries were so severe that doctors could not stabilise him enough to transport him to a US military medical center in Germany.

The soldier accused of the attack, Army Sergeant Asan Akbar, was flown from a base in Kuwait to a military jail in Germany to await formal charges.

Akbar was detained after a series of explosions o­n March 23 rocked three tents at Camp Pennsylvania when he was found hiding in a bunker.