Hundreds of Iraqis living near the country's largest nuclear plant fear for their lives as dozens of radioactive barrels from the site looted at the end of the war a year ago remain there.

Residents of Al-Tuwaytha compound, south of Baghdad, are reporting strange ailments and doctors say the number of children suffering from blood-related diseases is on the rise. "There are people who are losing their hair, others find spots on their skin and the colour of the face is changing," said Mohammad Abbas, a tailor. "One of my clients knows an entire family who gets sick at nightfall. They only get better when the sun rises," he added. Fuad Obeid, 27, has no doubts that these people "came into contact with radioactive barrels" from Al-Tuwaytha.

Looters ransacked the nuclear station at the end of the 20-day US-led war that ousted former leader Saddam Hussein. Thieves broke into Al-Tuwaytha, emptied the barrels of their contents and then washed them in the Tigris River before selling them for a profit.

Latest IT News The art of Italian cooking recipes is a fun and easy way to learn about using new and varied food items and natural herbs reliance you may have never used before for lack of knowledge and thus, begin on an interesting new gastronomical journey to tickle your taste buds, heighten your senses and change the moods for everyone around. News Website Template. All content on this website is © Copyright 2000-2010 - All Rights Reserved Website template powered by VooWeb.com News Website Template The content on this site may not be reused or republished. News Website Template

The environmental group Greenpeace sounded the alarm at the end of the war and launched a campaign to retrieve the toxic barrels, which many residents had begun to use to store water and food. "More than 2,000 came into contact with these containers. It was a disaster for our health and the environment," said Hatem Karim, an optician who also sits on the municipal council. "Children have been stricken with blood diseases and brain tumors and new cases are coming in regularly," he added. Karim said he had begun investigating the pollution affecting the area along the Diyala river which is home to 125,000 people, and has piles of documents to press his case. "Most of the people here are poor and ignorant. They are totally unaware of the danger or the repercussions of radioactivity. These people don't even have sewers," he said. According to Karim some of the barrels from Al-Tuwaytha have never been found while others surfaced in Mosul, in northern Iraq.

Last summer residents of Al-Tuwaytha staged a protest in Baghdad during a visit of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who came to Iraq to probe reports of radioactive material.

 "Ever since no one has worried about us. We need technicians to measure the level of radioactivity," said Karim. At the Diyala out-patient clinic, Doctor Rabih al-Assadi recalls that a Greenpeace team which visited the region measured the level of radioactivity but Karim complains that the results have not been made public.

Meanwhile, three U.S. soldiers were wounded Tuesday in an attack on their patrol in downtown Ramadi, 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, witnesses said.

Local witnesses said that the soldiers were wounded when rocket-propelled grenades were fired at their patrol in the Maraab area in downtown Ramadi. The witnesses also said two U.S. Humvees were destroyed in the attack while three Iraqis were wounded following sporadic shooting in the area.