FALLUJAH, Iraq, March 4 (UPI) -- Residents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah report an increasing number of birth defects six years after U.S. forces thwarted an insurgency, hospital workers said.
U.S. forces descended on Fallujah in 2004 in one of the most violent urban campaigns since the Vietnam War. Six years after the conflict, hospital officials cautiously told the BBC that birth defects were on the rise.
"I have nothing documented," said Samira al-Ani from the Fallujah General Hospital. "But I can tell you that year by year the number (is) increasing."
The BBC said hospital officials indicated many of the defects were related to cardiac problems, though reporters described photos of children with multiple limbs and an infant with more than one head.
Ani was apprehensive to speculate on the causes of the birth defects. The BBC said it had reports from city officials who warned women against having children because of the growing problem.
U.S. forces unleashed a massive assault on Fallujah during the height of the insurgency in Iraq, using white phosphorus munitions and, allegedly, depleted-uranium shells. After the city was pacified, the BBC said, much of the rubble was dumped into the Euphrates River, where many of the residents get drinking water.
U.S. military authorities said they were unaware of the number of birth defects in Fallujah, the BBC said, because no official records exist.
