Four schoolchildren were killed by gunfire in Baghdad on Sunday, shortly after a roadside bomb ripped through a US military vehicle, witnesses said. A US military spokesman could not confirm the veracity of the reports.
Some witnesses said the children, all aged around 12, were shot dead by US troops who had opened fire randomly after the blast on Canal Street in eastern Baghdad. At least five other people were wounded.
The children had left their nearby school to look at the burning Humvee, the witnesses said. Children and some passersby were "celebrating" the attack near the vehicle when the deadly shots were fired.
A US military spokesman could not confirm whether or not any children had been killed in the firefight which erupted after a roadside bomb exploded killing a US soldier..
After the bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, US troops evacuated the dead soldier, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters.
When the troops returned to retrieve the stricken vehicle, they found several children on it, taking
material, he said. As the troops approached the vehicle, gunmen on neighbouring rooftops opened
fire, sparking a battle with the soldiers, he said.
Witnesses reported Iraqi casualties in the fight, but it was not known if any of the children were among them.
"I saw a child lying on the street with a bullet hole in his neck and another in his side," said a driver who witnessed the incident. "He had his schoolbag on his back.
Some 15 minutes later his relatives came and took his body away."
A nearby hospital confirmed receiving the bodies of four children with gunshot wounds.
The targeted Humvee was part of a military convoy driving through the street.
Two soldiers in the Humvee were evacuated from the scene by military medics, they said.