|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
October 23rd,
2007 - US Says Iraq Air Strike Kills 11, Mostly Civilians |
|
US Says Iraq Air Strike Kills
11, Mostly Civilians By Aseel Kami Reuters October 23, 2007 Baghdad - The U.S. military
said it killed 11 people in a helicopter attack on a group of men seen
planting a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Tuesday, but police and
residents said the dead were farmers, women and children. The U.S. military
acknowledged that five women and one child were among those killed but blamed
militants for using their home as a safe haven to escape attack by U.S.
forces. It said a known member of a roadside bomb cell was also killed. The air strike was the third
resulting in civilian deaths in two weeks and comes as the U.S. military's
reliance on airpower to target militants is under increased scrutiny from the
Iraqi government and the United Nations mission in Iraq. U.N. officials have
expressed concern at the number of civilians killed in air strikes and said
more care must be taken in military operations to protect them. Major Peggy Kageleiry, the
U.S. military spokeswoman in northern Iraq, said an Apache attack helicopter
had spotted five men planting a roadside bomb near the city of Samarra, 100
km (60 miles) north of the Iraqi capital. The helicopter had
"engaged" the men and continued firing as they ran into a nearby
house. "They chose to go into
a house with civilians to hide. They endangered folks on the ground by doing
that. We send condolences to the families of those victims and we regret any
loss of life," she said. House Destroyed Police and residents of the
village of Djila, however, gave a different account, saying the group of men
attacked by the helicopter were three farmers who had left their homes at
4.30 a.m. to irrigate their fields. Two were killed in the
initial air strike and the survivor ran back to his home, where other
residents then gathered, said Abdul al-Rahman Iyadeh, a relative of the
victims. The second air strike
completely destroyed the house, killing 14 people, including six members of
the Ibrahim Jassim family and five from another, he told Reuters. A local police officer,
Captain Abdullah al-Isawi, put the death toll at 16 - seven men, six women
and three children. The U.S. military is already
investigating another deadly air strike in which nine children and six women
were killed on Oct. 11 during an operation targeting senior leaders of al
Qaeda 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Baghdad. The Iraqi government has
also protested against a weekend raid by U.S. forces in the Shi'ite
stronghold of Sadr City, in which U.S. troops backed by attack helicopters
said they killed 49 gunmen. Police put the toll at 13 and said they were all
civilians, including two toddlers. Critics say U.S. forces
often call in air strikes on buildings where militants are believed to be
hiding without taking reasonable care to find out who else might be inside. The U.S. military says
militants deliberately use civilians as shields against attacking U.S. forces. External link: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL23266364 |