Report: Iraqi Police Say U.S. Soldiers Killed 11 Iraqi Civilians
Knights Ridder is reporting that Iraqi police and eyewitness reports say U.S. soldiers killed 11 Iraqi civilians during a raid, after herding them into a room. Among those allegedly killed were a 75 year old woman and a six month old infant. The raid was the result of information that an al-Qaeda member was at the house.
The villagers were killed after American troops herded them into a single room of the house, according to a police document obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers. The soldiers also burned three vehicles, killed the villagers' animals and blew up the house, the document said.
Neighbors confirmed there was an al-Qaeda member visiting at the house that was raided. The house belonged to a school teacher and family member of the al-Qaeda member. The teacher was among those killed, while the al Qaeda member survived and was arrested.
Not suprisingly, there are differing versions of what took place.
According to police, military and eyewitness accounts, U.S. forces approached the house at around 2:30 a.m. and a firefight ensued. By all accounts, in addition to exchanging gunfire with someone inside the house, U.S. troops were supported by helicopter gunships, which fired on the house. But the accounts differ on what took place after the firefight.
According to the U.S. account, the house collapsed because of the heavy fire. When U.S. forces searched the rubble they found one man, the al-Qaida suspect, alive. He was arrested. They also found a dead man they believed to be connected to al-Qaida, two dead women and a dead child. But the report filed by the Joint Coordination Center, which was based on a report filed by local police, said U.S. forces entered the house while it was still standing.
"The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 persons, including five children, four women and two men," the report said. "Then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed their animals."
The reported autopsy results don't help the soldiers.
A local police commander, Lt. Col. Farooq Hussain, interviewed by a Knight Ridder special correspondent in Ishaqi, said autopsies at the hospital in Tikrit "revealed that all the victims had bullet shots in the head and all bodies were handcuffed." Efforts to reach hospital spokesmen Sunday were unsuccessful.
The article contains the text of the police report. Three of the eleven killed were children. A U.S. official disputes that the dead were handcuffed.
I'm skeptical that the soldiers shot and killed children at point-blank range. Maybe they fired on the house first which killed some or all of them, and then entered to collect the dead. But an investigation definitely should be conducted. I'm also wondering which unit conducted the raid -- was it Army or Special Ops?
| < Moussaoui Trial Resumes, Defense Wants Carla Martin Questioned | Govt's Case on Moussaoi Remains Weak > |
