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2 American Servicemen Murdered by Iraqi 'Soldier' While on Humanitarian Mission
This is starting to look like a pattern.US says 2 servicemen killed in shooting in Iraq By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press BAGHDAD Two American servicemen were killed Tuesday when a gunman in an Iraqi army uniform opened fire while they were distributing humanitarian aid in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said. It was the third such shooting in the Mosul area in less than a year purportedly involving Iraqi soldiers, raising concerns about infiltration of the Iraqi security forces in one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq. The shooting, southwest of Mosul near the Syrian border, came on the eve of a parliament vote on a pact that would allow American troops to remain in Iraq three more years. Iraq's government says its police and army are not ready to maintain security on their own. The attack killed a Marine and an Army soldier on a transition team working with the Iraqis, a military statement said. Two Marines and three Iraqi civilians also were wounded, it said. "The attack appears to have been unprovoked," Col. Bill Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman, was quoted as saying. He said it was unknown if the attacker was an Iraqi soldier or an insurgent in disguise, saying a joint investigation was under way. The statement said another man also was involved. Other U.S. military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said the gunman was in Iraqi army custody and appeared to be an Iraqi soldier. Could be an interesting discussion. The American servicemen and Iraqi soldiers were passing out blankets near Baaj, a mainly Sunni Arab area near the border, about 75 miles southwest of Mosul, when the midday attack occurred, one of the officials said. The gunman, who fired from about 50-100 yards away, fled after the attack, the official said. Posted by: Glenmore 2008-11-26 |
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