FALLUJAH, Iraq - Thirteen Iraqis were killed and 45 wounded when US troops opened fire on demonstrators brandishing photographs of Saddam Hussein on the ousted strongman's 66th birthday Monday evening, witnesses said Tuesday.
"The shooting broke out when 500 protestors carrying portraits of Saddam and Iraqi flags approached a school manned by US troops," said Mohammed Hamid, a resident of this town 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital.
A US officer said troops opened fire "in self-defense."
"The demonstrators fired in our direction and we responded," the officer said.
But another Iraqi witness who asked not to be identified said the US soldiers were "not threatened by the demonstrators who were celebrating the former president's birthday".
Of the 13 dead who were swiftly buried Tuesday morning in accordance with Islamic tradition, six were children aged just seven or eight, the second witness said.
Demonstrators waved Iraqi flags during the funeral procession, as a US military helicopter hovered overhead.
The wounded were taken to the Fallujah hospital and a nearby Jordanian-run medical center, where 16 of the injured were being treated.
US General Glenn Webster at a press conference Tuesday in Baghdad said he did not know anything about the shooting, which he said had not been included in his daily briefing.
Webster is part of the reconstruction team headed by retired US general Jay Garner and is not responsible for security in Fallujah.
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