US says 15 insurgents killed in Iraq firefight

-U.S. forces hunting insurgents linked to al Qaeda in Iraq killed 15 gunmen in raids north of Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. military said. Residents of Qaduri Ali al Shahin village 13 km (9 miles) north of Baquba said the men were employees of a nearby poultry farm, not rebels. The Sunni Muslim Scholars Association, which is sharply critical of the U.S. occupation, condemned what it called "this crime". U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell insisted no civilians were killed in what he described as an "extremely long firefight". Reuters footage showed 13 male bodies covered with blankets lying on open trucks. A police source said one was a 12-year-old. Reuters footage showed a bloodied mattress on the floor of one house. Two spent bullet casings lay nearby. Residents said the 12-year-old had been asleep on the mattress when he was shot.

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