Iraq claims US-British bombers kill 11 on football pitch

A US-British airstrike on a football field in northern Iraq has killed 11 people and injured 11, Iraqi authorities have claimed.

Allied planes have attacked Tall Afar, 440 kilometres north west of Baghdad, the capital, the Iraqi News Agency said.

The British Ministry of Defence has dismissed the reports as propaganda and stated that British planes have come under attack while on operations over Iraq.

The spokesman added: "As far as the coalition is concerned we have not dropped any bombs or ordnance either today or yesterday.

"It is yet another example of the Iraqis lying. It is propaganda. We have checked with our flight crews and operations staff in Turkey and they have dropped no bombs in the last two days. There is no way it could be down to us. That is in spite of our planes being shot at this morning."

The Iraqi state-run news agency has not stated when the attack took place, but it said the victims have been buried.

"America and it's ally, Britain, have committed a new ugly crime that will be added to the record of their heinous crimes against Iraq," INA said.

A spokesman for US forces at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, from where flights over northern Iraq take off, denied anything was bombed Wednesday.

"We flew today, but we did not ... drop anything," said Major Scott Vadnais.