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US troops err in civilian killings
Or maybe not...
Three Iraqis - including a child — have been shot dead by US troops in the capital while two occupation soldiers were killed in attacks north of Baghdad. The three Iraqis were killed on Monday at Baghdad’s gun market when US soldiers mistook gunfire of customers testing weapons for an attack. According to Iraqi police, the dead included an 11-year-old boy, while four others were also wounded. The apparently mistaken shooting of civilians began when a group of Iraqis were testing a gun in the market by firing it in the air, said Major Ali Rykan of the Iraqi police. As they shot, four US armoured cars passed by, Rykan said.
Making it a particularly stupid time to test fire a gun...
At least two US soldiers opened fire on the market, killing the three, said Rykan and Hashem Naim Muhammad, a witness. His 11-year-old nephew, Akil Hussain Naim, was among the dead. The shooting took place at the Mraydi market, a three-kilometre-long market that is famous in Baghdad as a place where one can buy guns. In Iraq, it is legal for a family to own one gun for self-defence.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-11-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=21377