"There are perhaps 100 wounded and 10 to 12 dead" following the shooting near the local government offices in a central square, Dr Ayad al-Ramadhani said at the emergency department of the city hospital.

Three witnesses questioned by AFP and casualties who spoke to hospital staff said US troops had fired on the crowd which was becoming increasingly hostile towards the city's new governor, Mashaan al-Juburi, as he was making a pro-US speech.

An AFP journalist saw a wrecked car in the square and ambulances ferrying wounded people to hospital, while a US aircraft flew over the northern Iraqi city at very low altitude.

US forces in Mosul refused to comment to AFP, and at US Central Command's war headquarters in Qatar Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a press briefing he had seen no military reports of the incident and could not confirm it.

SPACE.WIRE