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• U.S. Military Launches Attack on Iraq • Who's Calling the Shots Against Iraq? • Reporters On the Move with U.S. Forces

The International Red Cross said Thursday that at least one person had died and 14 were wounded in the first day of war in Iraq.

The first independent, non-Iraqi source to confirm the numbers, the International Committee of the Red Cross said at a news conference that one of its doctors had reported back following visits to hospitals in Baghdad.

"We confirm the death of one person and 14 injured," said ICRC director of operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl. "This is on the basis of the first round of visits the ICRC medical doctor was able to carry out today in a series of hospitals in Baghdad."

Iraqi officials came up with the same number Thursday morning after U.S. forces pounded Baghdad with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs at the start of the fight to depose Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

However, until now, no outside sources had been able to confirm the numbers.

photo credit and caption:

Soldiers in the U.S. Army 3 Battalion 15th Infantry aim towards Iraq while atop the last Kuwaiti berm before the border Iraqi Thursday, March 20, 2003. U.S. forces launched their long-awaited war against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Iraq responded hours later, firing missiles toward American and British troops positioned just across its border with Kuwait.(AP Photo/John Moore)

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