"We confirm that a target of the (Iraqi) regime was hit very hard," said a spokesman, adding that the attack had come after a US intelligence report suggested that "senior Iraqi officials" were in a building in the Al-Mansur area of the city.

Witnesses told AFP on Monday that nine members of a family, including two children and five other people were found dead after a bomb destroyed four houses off Ramadan 14, a main commercial artery in the al-Mansur area.

The bombardment hit at about 3:00 pm (1100 GMT) on Monday.

Earlier a US official said in Washington that US warplanes struck a building in Baghdad where intelligence information indicated that Iraqi leaders including Saddam Hussein and his sons may have been staying.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, could not say whether the Iraqi leaders were killed in Monday's attack.

SPACE.WIRE