Report: 10 children among civilians killed in Diwaniya air strike

Left: Men gather outside a house damaged after the U.S. airstrike.

The U.S. military said on Tuesday it was reviewing an air strike on insurgent targets in a southern Iraqi city after local officials reported it killed 10 civilians, including six children.

In a statement, the U.S. military said two F-16 fighter jets hit targets in a street in the Shi'ite Muslim city of Diwaniya after militants fired up to 75 mortar bombs and rockets at the Camp Echo coalition military base early on Monday morning.

"Coalition forces are reviewing the incident to ensure that appropriate and proportionate force was used in responding to the intense attack," the statement said, without referring to any Iraqi casualties.

Hameed al-Juati, a senior health official in Diwaniya, told a local radio on Monday that 10 civilians had been killed. A hospital and a police source also said 10 people had died.

The hospital source said the dead included six children under the age of 12. He put the number of wounded at 30.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

Related Link:
Reports: U.S. clashes with Mahdi army in Diwaniyah, fires into residential neighborhoods; 1 soldier killed, number of civilian casualties unknown

Related Link:
Report: Mortar rounds fired on Echo base in Diwaniya

Related Link:
Hospital: Diwaniya at brink of 'real humanitarian catastrophe' -- medicine, electricty scarce -- dead and wounded lying in streets

Related Link:
Report: 50 arrested in raid in Diwaniya

Relate
Sadr urges militia, Iraqi forces to stop fighting each other in Diwaniya

Related Link:
U.S. calls in airstrikes in Diwaniya on second day of Operation Black Eagle

Related Link:
U.S. launches major offensive against Sadr's Mahdi forces in Diwaniya; Local security ordered to stay at home, curfew imposed