U.S. Baghdad strikes kill 13, including toddlers
U.S. air strikes in a Shi'ite stronghold of Baghdad early on Sunday killed two toddlers, Reuters TV footage showed, in clashes that police said left a total of 13 dead and 69 wounded.
The bodies of the toddlers, one in a nappy, lay on crumpled blankets in the morgue of Imam Ali hospital in the poor district of Sadr City where doctors tended to wounded men and boys.
In a house where one of the children lived, a man pointed to bloodstained mattresses and blood-splattered pillows, choking back tears as he held up a photo of one of the dead.
"We were waking in the morning and all of a sudden rockets landed in the house and the children were screaming," said a woman outside the house.
Clouds of black smoke rose from Sadr City as sirens wailed, heavy gunfire echoed and U.S. attack helicopters circled overhead, the video footage showed.
The district is the main stronghold in Baghdad for the Mehdi Army, a Shi'ite militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and has seen many clashes between U.S. forces and militants.
"The operation's objective was an individual reported to be a long-time special groups member specializing in kidnapping operations," the U.S. military said in a statement.
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