US accidentally kills 9 Iraqi civilians

The US military said yesterday that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq south of Baghdad.
The civilians were killed Saturday near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of the Iraqi capital, US Navy Lt. Patrick Evans told The Associated Press. Three more civilians were wounded and taken to US military hospitals nearby, he said.
The incident and the events surrounding it are under investigation, Evans said.
The killings occurred as US forces pursued suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq militants in the area. Shortly after the incident, American officers met with a Muslim sheik representing citizens in the area, he said.
"We offer our condolences to the families of those who were killed in this incident, and we mourn the loss of innocent civilian life," Evans said in a statement e-mailed to the AP.
Saturday's strike was the deadliest known case of mistaken identity in recent months.
In November, a leader of one of the so-called awakening councils Sunni tribesmen allied with American forces fighting to oust al-Qaeda from their hometowns said US soldiers killed dozens of his fighters during a 12-hour battle north of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, the US Army on Monday announced the death of a soldier whose vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in eastern Baghdad on January 31.