BAGHDAD: Baghdad authorities announced a citywide campaign to kill stray dogs in the Iraqi capital after a spate of dog attacks on city residents.

"We have decided to take action after receiving complaints of rising attacks on people by packs of dogs, and reports that some children are refusing to go to school because they're afraid of being bitten," said Anam Hamid, head of the environment board on the Baghdad provincial council.

The campaign is slated to start next week in the western half of the city, then move to the eastern side of the capital in early 2009.

Three teams made up of a shooter from the Interior Ministry, two military veterans and a police escort will use poisoned meat and rifles to kill the dogs.

The US military has been informed of the plans. More than a thousand stray dogs roam the Iraqi capital in packs, Hamid said, adding that 13 people died in the city in August after being bitten by the animals.

Baghdad's provincial council said in a statement that the operation aims "to eradicate the diseases transmitted from dogs to human beings ... after the spread of the stray dog phenomenon."

Under Saddam Hussein, who was ousted from power in the 2003 US-led war, authorities culled stray dogs in the capital on an almost annual basis. The new campaign will be the first since Saddam's ouster.