FALLUJAH, Iraq, March 4 (UPI) -- A sharp increase in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah could be linked to sophisticated weaponry used by U.S. troops in 2004, a researcher was told.
British-based Iraqi researcher Malik Hamdan says doctors in Fallujah are seeing a "massive unprecedented number" of heart defects and an increase in the number of central nervous system defects in newborns, the BBC reported Thursday.
"I've seen footage of babies born with an eye in the middle of the forehead, the nose on the forehead," Hamdan says.
Hamdan says data indicate the rate of congenital heart defects among infants in Fallujah is 13 times higher than in Europe.
Doctors and parents in Fallujah say they believe the problems are linked to weapons used by U.S. troops when they carried out a major offensive against insurgents in 2004.
U.S. military spokesman Michael Kilpatrick rejected the idea.
"No studies to date have indicated environmental issues resulting in specific health issues," he said.
