US troops kill five 'chicken farmers' in Iraq

American troops opened fire on a truck carrying live chickens near the tense town of Fallujah, killing five civilians in the vehicle, including a father and his two sons, relatives said today.

The shooting took place at a roadblock last night, they said.

Fallujah is the site of numerous anti-American attacks and US soldiers in the area have been on a high state of alert.

Reporters saw American troops delivering one body from an army ambulance to waiting families.

In the morgue, they saw several bodies with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

A spokesman for the US military in Baghdad had no immediate information on the attack.