9 Iraqi Civilians Killed in Error As U.S. Planes Chase Militants

By LAUREN FRAYER

By Lauren Frayer

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD

The U.S. military said Monday that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation targeting al-Qaida in Iraq – the deadliest known case of mistaken identity in recent months.

In northern Iraq, Turkish warplanes on Monday bombed some 70 Kurdish rebel targets, the Turkish military said. It was the fifth aerial attack against Kurdish rebel bases there in two months.

Also Monday, 15 suspected militants were killed in U.S. raids targeting a possible hideout for a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

Navy Lt. Patrick Evans did not say exactly how the civilians died, but he said the killings occurred as U.S. forces pursued suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militants. The incident is under investigation, he said.

Iraqi police said the victims were in two houses in the village of Tal al-Samar, which was bombed by American warplanes late Saturday. They were all Sunnis, an officer said .

The U.S. planes struck after an American convoy came under enemy fire in Tal al-Samar and soldiers called for air support, the Iraqi officer 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.

The Turkish bombings early Monday hit the Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk regions of northern Iraq, the Turkish military said on its Web site.

Turkey has frequently targeted members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in cross-border raids into Iraq, where thousands of the rebels are based. The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for more than two decades.

Since Dec. 16, the Turkish military has confirmed five aerial raids into Iraq, though Iraqi Kurdish officials have reported other airstrikes. Turkey’s military says the raids have killed as many as 175 PKK rebels.

Adem Uzun, a member of the rebel command, said 15 to 20 Turkish jets bombed rebel areas in northern Iraq, according to Firat, a Kurdish news agency. Uzun said the rebels did not suffer casualties, the agency reported.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said Monday they will meet this month to negotiate future relations and the long-term presence of American forces in Iraq. The United States currently has about 160,000 troops in Iraq under a United Nations mandate that has been extended on a yearly basis since the 2003 invasion, but Iraqi officials have said they will not renew it after 2008.

mistaken identity

The incident occurred Saturday near Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad.

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