WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon acknowledged striking targets in a residential Baghdad neighborhood that may have caused civilian damage or deaths Wednesday and blamed Iraqi forces for placing military equipment there.

The statement came hours after Iraqi defense officials said two cruise missiles struck a residential area, killing 14 people, in the worst single reported instance of civilian deaths since the U.S. bombing campaign began a week ago.

Thirty others were reported injured in the attack, which occurred around midday in the heavily populated northern Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Shaab. The area consists of homes and about 30 shops, mostly inexpensive restaurants and auto repair shops.

U.S.-led air strikes targeted nine surface-to-surface missiles and launchers in Baghdad at about 3 a.m. EST, said a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

It was unclear whether they were in the same area the Iraqis were talking about.

"The missiles and launchers were placed within a civilian residential area," the Central Command statement said. "Most of the missiles were positioned less than 300 feet from homes."

It said a full assessment of the operation was under way.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed that two U.S. troops were killed, five captured and eight remain missing from Sunday's attack at a maintenance unit that was ambushed.

Officials also said they had a report that some of the soldiers from the unit were executed as they attempted to surrender.

Five from the unit were shown on Iraqi television as prisoners of war. The television also showed video of bodies, some of which defense officials said had been shot in the forehead.

Officials also said they were adjusting tactics after being surprised by the strength of Iraqi paramilitary fighting in the country.

Instead of racing to the capital, parts of the American-led invasion are being forced to focus much more on pockets of resistance and ambushes in the south, including from the Fedayeen Saddam, a militia that has been rallying other Iraqis to fight and in some cases, reportedly keeping them from surrendering.

Still, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said Wednesday the militia activity was not slowing the war, with U.S. Army and Marine forces closer to Baghdad continuing to make progress overnight.

While British forces battled more than 1,000 die-hard Iraqi loyalists for control of the southern city of Basra, the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment fought a tough battle near Najaf in central Iraq.

The unexpected level of resistance from militia and battering sandstorms are creating a drag on troops headed to Baghdad, where President Saddam Hussein and his regime are expected to make their last stand, said officials at the Pentagon and the U.S. military command center in Qatar.

Storms grounded scores of coalition aircraft Tuesday, blinded the array of electronic eyes needed to target Iraq and were gumming up guns, breaking down engines and generally slowing a military campaign designed for speed.

The Fedayeen -- which means "those ready to sacrifice themselves for Saddam" -- are accused of organizing such battlefield ruses as posing as civilians and faking surrenders in order to ambush invading forces.

Intelligence officials say there could be 30,000 to 60,000 of them, with chapters assigned to each Iraqi province to assure loyalty to Saddam. Other militia groups, including from Saddam's Baath Party, also are operating, and some have been captured, officials said.

One Defense Department official said commanders were surprised by the capability of the Fedayeen, another by its brutality in forcing regular Iraqi army troops to fight. Another official said the group has shown tenacity and that it was expected that it would present the biggest problem in Baghdad rather than in the south.

Meanwhile, the Air Force used an experimental bomb to try to knock out Iraq's state-run television. Officials declined to describe the weapon, though they have said in recent months that they were developing a bomb that would emit an electromagnetic pulse to disrupt computers, communications and other equipment.

Also in the package of strikes were Tomahawk cruise missiles and other precision-guided bombs. Television broadcast were back on the air about eight hours later.

Defense officials also revised to 350 the number of Iraqi forces killed in fierce fighting Tuesday for a key Euphrates River crossing about 90 miles south of Baghdad. The number had been widely estimated Tuesday at more than 150 Iraqi fighters and possibly as many as 500. No American casualties were reported from the battle, which pitted an American armored division against Iraqi infantry. ------ Associated Press reporter Ellen Knickmeyer, traveling with Marines in central Iraq, contributed to this report.