Iraq minister says US, Iraqi troops killed 37

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s security minister, a Shi’ite
political ally of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, accused
U.S. and Iraqi troops on Monday of killing 37 unarmed people in
an attack on a mosque complex a day earlier.

“At evening prayers, American soldiers accompanied by Iraqi
troops raided the Mustafa mosque and killed 37 people,” Abd
al-Karim al-Enzi, minister of state for national security,
said.

“They were all unarmed. Nobody fired a single shot at them
(the troops). They went in, tied up the people and shot them
all. They did not leave any wounded behind,” he told Reuters.

Shi’ite politicians had earlier said 20 people were killed
at the mosque. The U.S. military’s account of Sunday evening’s
incident said Iraqi special forces with U.S. advisers killed 16
“insurgents,” arrested 15 people and freed an Iraqi hostage.
The military denied entering any mosque.