US Military Investigates Multiple Alleged Massacre Incidents - Iraqi Prime Minister Says Troops Disrespectful And Kill Civilians - Ishagi And Haditha

June 2nd 2006

Iraqi Civilians

The US Defense Department is investigating a March 2006 US-led raid against a suspected Al Qaeda site in Iraq. This is a new investigation, where Iraqi police said US forces allegedly killed 11 people, including women and children. CNN reports that the incident took place in the Abu Seffa district in the town of Ishaqi. According to Reuters, a senior Iraqi police officer said autopsies showed each had been shot in the head. The military version indicates two women and a child died during the arrest of an al Qaeda militant. The BBC said Iraqi police claim the civilians were tied up before being shot.

Apparently the US military and Iraqi police reports differ. The police report says that five children and four women were killed. One of the children was only 6 months old, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The US Military says that troops came under fire during the raid, and the building was destroyed by air and ground forces.

ABC News reported that footage showed the bodies in the Tikrit morque. The footage included five children, two men and four women. According to the report, their wounds were not clear, though one infant had a gaping head wound.

"They started shooting in the air before entering the house. This process lasted for about 20 minutes and after that they entered the house and started shooting inside it," Ibrahim Khalaf told Reuters Television. Khalaf was a witness who described the attack on his brother’s house by US forces before raiding his own home. Comment on this article at our Forum

Khalaf added, “After that, they raided my house, binding my hands and blindfolding me. They gathered my family members in one room. One of the soldiers told them (his colleagues) to kill them (my family) all. But thank God they did not. We went to my brother's house. The residents of the village dragged the bodies from the rubble."

This comes on the heels of an investigation into allegations that US Marines killed Iraqi civilians in Haditha last year. ABC News reports that murder charges may be brought against Marines following an investigation into the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, According to Reuters, the US military is investigating four other cases in which U.S. troops are alleged to have killed Iraqi civilians.

Eight men are being held in a brig at Camp Pendleton California for allegedly killing a Hamandiya man and a subsequent attempt to make him look like an insurgent by placing an AK-47 rifle near his body.

The Guardian (UK) is reporting that Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Maliki, will demand investigators turn offer files about the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians by US troops in the town of Haditha. This may have been the worst massacre by US forces to date and has been called the My Lai of Iraq.

The Guardian reports that doubt is already being cast on two other military versions of fatal incidents in Iraq in recent months. Maliki said “I hope it [the US investigation] will be fair for the sake of all the victims.” He said that these types of incidents were “common in Iraq”. He added that multinational forces show “no respect for citizens, smashing civilian cars and killing on a suspicion or a hunch.”

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