Iraqi women killed 'by mistake'
2006-05-31 18:23
Baghdad - A joint Iraqi-US security body
said on Wednesday US forces had killed "by mistake" two women
who were en route to a maternity hospital north of Baghdad.
News of the deaths came a day after Iraq's prime minister
told Reuters his patience was wearing thin with "excuses" from
US troops that they kill civilians by "mistake".
The US military is also under pressure over revelations
that US marines may have killed 24 civilians in the town of
Haditha during an unprovoked attack last November.
An incident report by the joint body of the Iraqi army and
US forces in Salahaddin province said the two women were shot
and killed in the small town of al-Mutasim on Tuesday.
A brief statement from the joint co-ordination centre named
them as Saleha Mohammed, 55, and Nabiha Nasif, 35.
"US forces killed two women by mistake ... when they were
heading to a maternity hospital in a taxi," it said, without
specifying if either of the women was pregnant.
Prohibited area
A police source said the driver of the car was wounded.
The US military said a car had entered a "clearly marked
prohibited area" near an observation post.
"As the vehicle neared the observation post and failed to
stop despite repeated visual and auditory signals, shots were
fired to disable the vehicle," Lieutenant-Colonel Ed Loomis told
Reuters in an e-mail in response to a question.
"The vehicle stopped, changed direction and quickly
departed the area."
He said the military later received Iraqi police reports
that two women had died from gunshot wounds at the hospital in
the town of Samarra, 100km north of Baghdad.
"The loss of life is regrettable and coalition forces go to
great lengths to prevent them," he said. "The incident is under
investigation."
The US military, targeted in numerous suicide bombings
since the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, says people
often drive too fast and ignore clear warning signs.
Ordinary Iraqis complain that US soldiers manning
checkpoints are too quick to open fire at approaching vehicles,
at times leading to the loss of innocent civilians.
Punishment
President George W Bush said in Washington on Wednesday that if an investigation turns up evidence of wrongdoing by US marines in the killing of civilians in Haditha, there will be punishment.
"I am troubled by the initial news stories," Bush said.
"I am mindful there is a thorough investigation going on.
"If in fact laws were broken, there will be punishment."
- Reuters