US: 9 Iraq Civilians Accidentally Killed

Images (showing 1 of 2 photos)

BAGHDAD — The deaths of nine civilians, including a child, in a U.S. airstrike south of Baghdad have raised fresh concerns about the military's ability to distinguish friend from foe in a campaign to uproot insurgents from Sunni areas on the capital's doorstep.

Witnesses and Iraqi police said helicopters strafed a house Saturday after confusing U.S.-allied Sunni fighters for extremists in the deadliest case of mistaken identity since November. The U.S. military on Monday confirmed the civilian deaths, but gave few other details of the Army gunship attack.

The bloodshed also points to the wider complications for U.S.-led offensives against insurgents in populated areas: As the firepower increases so do the risks of claiming innocent lives. And each such death potentially frays the crucial alliances between the Pentagon and new Sunni allies, widely known as Awakening Councils.

It was one of these groups that apparently was caught in the clash near Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad — an area where U.S.-led forces stepped up an air and ground assault last month against al-Qaida in Iraq footholds.

A farmer who lives near the site said the Americans retaliated after a mortar attack against a U.S. convoy as it passed a checkpoint manned by Awakening Council fighters.

The soldiers apparently thought the barrage came from the Awakening Council fighters, who fled to a nearby house, said Issa Mahdi.

"After awhile, U.S. helicopters arrived and bombarded the house where the awakening members were hiding," he said.

Abu Abeer, who said he was guarding a post nearby when the attack occurred, claimed the helicopters were targeting anybody near the house in the village of Tal al-Samar.

"It was a crime and it shows the Americans' disrespect for Iraqi blood. The U.S. apology will not bring the dead people back to life," he said, adding he is from the same al-Ghrir tribe as those who were killed.

The U.S. military said only that a child and eight other Iraqi civilians were killed and three others, including two children, were wounded as U.S. troops pursued suspected al-Qaida militants.

Lt. Col. James Hutton, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said the strike involved Army helicopters and no American casualties were reported.

American officers met with a local sheik representing citizens in the area and expressed condolences to the families of those killed, according to a brief e-mailed statement. But the military declined to provide more details pending the results of the investigation.

Some Sunni leaders worry about future cracks in Sunni cooperation with U.S. forces, which the Pentagon credits as a key reason behind a sharp drop in violence in recent months around Iraq.

"Al-Qaida could exploit such mistrust in order to win back some Awakening Council members who defected from it," said Sunni lawmaker Salman al-Jumaili. "I think that the Awakening Council members have served their country in the best way and any attempt to hurt them, even if it is by mistake, could endanger the political process in the country."

In November, a leader of one of the Awakening Councils said U.S. soldiers killed dozens of his fighters during a 12-hour battle north of Baghdad. The U.S. military admitted killing 25 men, but said they were insurgents operating "in the target area" where al-Qaida was believed to be hiding.

The U.S. military investigated that incident, but the two versions of events were never reconciled.

A month later, the U.S. military said its forces accidentally killed two people during a raid in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, and that one of them was later identified as an Awakening Council member.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government has nominally embraced the Sunni movements, but has been slow to incorporate them into the Iraqi security forces. It also has come under criticism for failing to draw Sunnis back into the political process.

Two Sunni parliamentary blocs joined forces Monday to form a larger group. Its first priority was to push to amend a new law that will allow thousands of Saddam Hussein-era officials to return to government jobs.

The measure, which was issued a day earlier by the Iraqi presidency council, is the first of 18 U.S.-endorsed reforms to show significant progress. But Sunni leaders have expressed concerns about a clause that calls for the dismissal of 7,000 former security agents under Saddam who still hold government jobs. Many also fear Shiites will find a way to purge more Sunnis from government posts.

In a separate development, U.S. and Iraqi officials will meet later this month to negotiate future relations and the long-term presence of American forces in Iraq, officials said.

President Bush and al-Maliki signed a "declaration of principles" on Nov. 26 that set the foundation for a potential long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq as part of an "enduring" relationship.

Mirembe Nantongo, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said "all different aspects of the relationship and framework" would be discussed. But Nantongo said overall American troop numbers would not be part of the upcoming talks.

In northern Iraq, Turkish warplanes attacked dozens of Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq as part of a U.S.-backed campaign to chip away at guerrilla strength without a ground offensive across the border.

The planes hit 70 targets that were "detected and verified by intelligence sources," the Turkish military said in a possible reference to the U.S. intelligence it is receiving.

The Turkish government has fought for more than two decades against Kurdish rebels who seek autonomy in southeastern Turkey. For years, the rebel group has launched attacks into Turkish territory from virtual safe havens in northern Iraq.

___

Associated Press Reporter Yahya Barzanji contributed to this report from Irbil, Iraq.

Back To Top