Iraqis die in US raid

BAGHDAD – Three Iraqis were killed, including a woman, and at least one child was injured after American soldiers stormed a tiny one-room house north of Baghdad and opened fire, United States. and Iraqi officials said yesterday.

It was the second time in as many days that the US military admitted involvement in the death of Iraqi civilians. On Monday, the military said it had accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians, including a child, in an airstrike targeting al-Qaida in Iraq south of Baghdad.The latest killings took place north of the capital, and the military said its soldiers killed two men in self-defense.It said it did not know who shot the woman or child.In both cases, the military acknowledged involvement in the killings only in response to media inquiries.Both incidents raised fresh concerns about the military’s ability to distinguish friend from foe – and to protect civilians in the line of fire – in its stepped-up campaign to uproot insurgents from Sunni areas around Baghdad.Yesterday, Iraqi police said a couple and their teenage son were killed, and that two young daughters were wounded in the US raid around 23h00 the night before.One of the girls died early yesterday, and the other was evacuated to a US military hospital, police said.The incident took place in the village of Adwar, 15 kilometres south of Tikrit.The predominantly Sunni area is home to many former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and has been the frequent site of US raids against Sunni militants.The US military confirmed the raid in an e-mail to The Associated Press, saying its troops came under small arms fire while entering the building, and that soldiers shot dead two men inside.A woman was killed and one child was injured, but it was unclear who shot them, the military said.A cousin of the victims, Kareem Talea Hamad, 20, said he watched the killings from his house across the street, and gave a different account of events than the American military’s version.Hamad said US soldiers opened the door to the small brick house and immediately opened fire, killing its unarmed residents: father Ali Hamad Shihab, 55, his wife Naeimah Ali Sulaiman, 40, and their son Diaa Ali, who was a member of a US-backed neighborhood watch group.Nampa-APOn Monday, the military said it had accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians, including a child, in an airstrike targeting al-Qaida in Iraq south of Baghdad.The latest killings took place north of the capital, and the military said its soldiers killed two men in self-defense.It said it did not know who shot the woman or child.In both cases, the military acknowledged involvement in the killings only in response to media inquiries.Both incidents raised fresh concerns about the military’s ability to distinguish friend from foe – and to protect civilians in the line of fire – in its stepped-up campaign to uproot insurgents from Sunni areas around Baghdad.Yesterday, Iraqi police said a couple and their teenage son were killed, and that two young daughters were wounded in the US raid around 23h00 the night before.One of the girls died early yesterday, and the other was evacuated to a US military hospital, police said.The incident took place in the village of Adwar, 15 kilometres south of Tikrit.The predominantly Sunni area is home to many former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and has been the frequent site of US raids against Sunni militants.The US military confirmed the raid in an e-mail to The Associated Press, saying its troops came under small arms fire while entering the building, and that soldiers shot dead two men inside.A woman was killed and one child was injured, but it was unclear who shot them, the military said.A cousin of the victims, Kareem Talea Hamad, 20, said he watched the killings from his house across the street, and gave a different account of events than the American military’s version.Hamad said US soldiers opened the door to the small brick house and immediately opened fire, killing its unarmed residents: father Ali Hamad Shihab, 55, his wife Naeimah Ali Sulaiman, 40, and their son Diaa Ali, who was a member of a US-backed neighborhood watch group.Nampa-AP