US forces west of the northern city of Kirkuk killed a 10-year-old child and wounded a 25-year-old man when they opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators who pelted them with stones, reports said.
However, a US military spokesperson denied Tuesday that US forces shot the boy saying "somebody within the crowd shot him."
Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID) spokesperson Major Josslyn Aberle disputed Jiburi's account of the protest, describing the demonstration as "some sort of salary dispute ... not anti-US, nor pro-Saddam."
AFP reporter on the scene said the casualties occurred when some 500 protestors carrying portraits of Saddam took to the streets of Hawija, located 50 kilometers west of Kirkuk, and began pelting US soldiers with stones.
Earlier it was reported that a U.S. position in Hawija came under mortar attack at dawn on Tuesday and a fire erupted inside the building, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties, according to witnesses.
"I was asleep on the roof of my building when I heard two explosions and I saw flames bursting from the technical institute where U.S. troops are positioned," one witness told AFP, and added the building was hit by two mortar rounds.
Elsewhere, two Iraqis were slightly injured Tuesday in an explosion at a public park in the center of Baquba, situated northeast of Baghdad, according to a witness.
The small blast took place at 9:30 a.m. (local time), wounding two farmers who were taken to hospital for medical treatment, the witness said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
