BAGHDAD - A US air strike damaged a hospital in the Iraqi capital's Shiite Sadr City on Saturday, injuring 20 people.
The US military said it carried out the strike in Sadr City, a bastion of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, where US troops in separate confrontations killed at least 14 militiamen since Friday.
"I can confirm that we conducted a strike in Sadr City this morning," a US military spokesman said. "The targets were known criminal elements. Battle damage assessment is currently ongoing."
However, witnesses and an AFP reporter at the scene said the main Al-Sadr hospital had been badly damaged and a fleet of ambulances were destroyed.
Just outside the hospital, a shack which appeared to be the target was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Hospital staff said at least 20 people wounded in the air raid were taken to the same hospital which had its glass windows shattered, and medical and electrical equipment damaged.
Doctors and hospital staff were livid they had been hit.
"They (the Americans) will say it was a weapons cache (they hit)," said the head of Baghdad's health department, Dr Ali Bistan. "But, in fact they want to destroy the infrastructure of the country."
He said that the attack was aimed at preventing doctors and medicines reaching the hospital which is located inside an area of increased clashes between American troops and militiamen.
The corridors of the hospital were littered with glass splinters, twisted metal and hanging electrical wiring. Partitions in wards had collapsed.
The huge concrete blocks forming a protective wall against explosions had collapsed on parked vehicles, including up to 17 ambulances, disabling the emergency response teams.
Nurse Zahra was recovering from the shock of the attack.
"I was very afraid. I thought I would die. Everyone was scared. They ran in all directions," she said. "Now I am more sad than frightened because hospital facilities have been destroyed."
Hospital guard Alaa Mohamed, 26, was at a side entrance when the bombs exploded. "There were five missiles that exploded outside the parking lot," he said.
An AFP reporter saw three huge craters, each with a diameter of six metres (yards), created by the impact of the explosions. Youngsters climbed on top of the rubble and looked for anyone trapped underneath.
Residents said the shack that appeared to be the main target of the air strike was a transit point for Muslim pilgrims.
The AFP reporter witnessed several US helicopters sweeping above Sadr City amid a steady barrage of gunfire.
The firefights which began 7:20 am (420 GMT) on Friday and continued sporadically throughout the day saw US forces use air support and tanks as they clashed with militants in the impoverished district of some two million people.
In one incident, an M1A1 Abrams tanks engaged fighters with one round from its main gun, the US military said.
In a separate incident, an American soldier died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside blast in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the US military said Saturday.
The soldier was on a "combat patrol" in eastern Baghdad when he was attacked on Friday evening, the military said in a statement. It said the victim's name was being withheld until his family could be informed.
The latest deaths brought the number of US troops killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 4,066, according to a count based on the website www.icasualties.org.
Meanwhile, a senior member of Iran's negotiating team with the United States on Iraqi security demanded a halt to US attacks in Iraq before any new round of talks with Washington, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
"If US savage attacks against the Iraqi people are stopped, we will examine the US request for a fourth round of talks," the unnamed official said, quoted by Fars.
Iran and the United States held three rounds of talks on Iraq last year despite mounting tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme. The talks have been stalled amid controversy over Iran's role in its conflict-torn neighbour.
Tehran, which strongly opposes the US military presence in Iraq, has been repeatedly accused by Washington of arming and training Shiite militia groups in its neighbour.
Iran, whose ties with Washington have been severed since 1980, strongly denies the allegations.
An Iranian delegation travelled to Baghdad in March expecting a new round of talks which never took place. Iran said the United States cancelled the talks at the last minute, but US officials said a date was never set.
"The Iraqi government and the United States have officially invited Iran for the fourth round," the Iranian official said.
"Under the current circumstances and given the US widespread attacks against Iraqi people in different cities, Iran does not feel these negotiations are necessary."
On Friday, US President George W. Bush formally asked lawmakers for 70 billion dollars to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into early next year, when his successor takes over.
The budgetary measure includes a request for 770 million dollars in new aid to cope with food shortages and soaring prices that have left many hungry and fueled angry protests around the world.
The request came as Bush's previous 108 billion dollar request for the wars has languished in the US Congress, which is controlled by Democrats who oppose the US involvement in Iraq.
The monies include 45.1 billion dollars for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, 3.7 billion to expand and train Afghan security forces, and two billion to bolster Iraq's security forces.
The request also seeks three billion dollars for classified activities, 2.2 billion to cope with rising fuel costs, three billion dollars for technology to battle improvised explosive devices like roadside bombs, and 2.6 billion to transport and maintain armored vehicles resistant to such weapons.
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