A BBC investigation has found a high level of birth defects in the Iraqi town of Falluja blamed on weapons used by the US in an attack six years ago, it reported Thursday.
A paediatrician at Falluja general hospital told BBC correspondent John Simpson that she was dealing with two or three cases of birth defects each day. That would amount to 1,000 cases a year, the report said, DPA reported.
But Simpson said the Iraqi government, keen to play down the problem, was officially speaking of two or three cases a year.
According to the report, the US military said it was not aware of any official reports showing an increase in birth defects.
Simpson said he had seen children with paralysis and brain damage. He had visited a family where he saw a girl with six fingers and six toes on each of their hands and feet.
He also saw a baby with three heads.
"I am a doctor, I have to be scientific ... I have no proof and I have nothing documented, but I can tell you that year by year they were increasing," said the doctor, speaking anonymously.
"No studies to date have indicated environmental issues resulting in specific health issues," the report quoted US Military Health System Communications Director Michael Kilpatrick as saying.
"Falluja is in the grip of a savage epidemic and the victims are the weakest and most vulnerable," reported Simpson.