Pentagon officials have acknowledged that US troops used white phosphorus as a weapon during the battle of Fallujah last November.
The admission comes after Italian state-run RAI24news television aired a documentary last week that alleged the United States used white phosphorus shells in a "massive and indiscriminate way" against civilians during the Fallujah offensive.
White phosphorus is a colorless-to-yellow translucent wax-like substance with a pungent, garlic-like smell. The form used by the military ignites once it is exposed to oxygen, producing such heat that it bursts into a yellow flame and produces a dense white smoke. It can cause painful burn injuries to exposed human flesh.
The US claimed the chemical was used against insurgent strongholds and denies claims that the spontaneously flammable material had been used against civilians.
Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said that while white phosphorus is used most frequently to mark targets or obscure positions, he claimed it was used at times in Fallujah as an "incendiary weapon" against enemy combatants.
"It was not used against civilians," Venable claimed.
The spokesman referred reporters to an article in the March-April 2005 edition of the US Army's Field Artillerymagazine, an official publication, in which veterans of the Fallujah fight spelled out their use of white phosphorus and other weapons. The authors used the shorthand "WP" in referring to white phosphorus.
The State Department initially denied that US troops had used white phosphorus against enemy forces. "They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters," a department Web site said.
The department later said the statement had been incorrect.
"There is a great deal of misinformation feeding on itself about US forces allegedly using 'outlawed' weapons in Fallujah," the department said. "The facts are that US forces are not using any illegal weapons in Fallujah or anywhere else in Iraq."
Venable claimed white phosphorus shells are a standard weapon used by field artillery units and are not banned by any international weapons convention to which the US is a signatory.
AP