At least six explosions were heard in Baghdad at about 6:30 p.m. local time (14:30 GMT) Thursday to the west of the presidential compound now under US marines control, said a Xinhua reporter.
Chaos and anarchy overwhelmed the capital city despite the presence of thousands of US marines and hundreds of tanks and armed vehicles in central Baghdad since Wednesday. Mobs attacked a number of banks, including the central bank of Iraq and two other government banks and looting all the money, valuables, computers and furniture in those banks.
At least two government universities to the eastern side of the city as well as a hospital were robbed and set ablaze afterwards.
The mobs also used trucks to attack other government buildings while US marines are watching without interference, said the reporter, adding that the French and German embassies were also ransacked completely.
(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2003)
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