US claims it didn't bomb 'wedding'

The United States military said today it has found “no evidence of a wedding” at the site of an air strike last week near the Syrian border.

It clamed evidence so far suggested that the target was a desert base for foreign terrorists sneaking into Iraq.

Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy chief of staff for operations, showed slides of military binoculars, guns and battery packs which could be used to trigger roadside bombs found by US troops at the site.

Survivors of the attack in Mogr el-Deeb, a desert village inhabited by members of the Bou Fahad clan, said they had just finished a wedding celebration when the bombs fell before dawn, killing more than 40 people, including women and children.

Associated Press Television News footage taken at the site Thursday showed broken musical instruments, chunks of bloodied women’s hair and the bodies of children. Kimmitt said no musical instruments were found.

Many of the bodies were taken about 250 miles to the east to Ramadi, the base of the clan and the capital of Anbar province which includes Mogr el-Deeb.