U.S. troops accused of attack on civilians

BAGHDAD — Officials in the southern city of Samawah said a U.S. Army convoy opened fire Sunday in an unprovoked attack on motorists who were trying to get out of its way, injuring four and destroying a truckload of sheep.

In Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, three U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday in an assault involving a suicide vest, the military said. The military released no further details, but witnesses in the city, where American troops had lengthy battles with insurgents this summer, said there appeared to be military casualties when a roadside bomb exploded near a group of children clustered around soldiers on foot patrol. Three children were killed and seven others were wounded in the incident.

The U.S. military apologized for the incident in Samawah, the capital of Muthanna province, saying in a statement that two civilians were killed and four injured. Local officials said there were no deaths.

The incidents came on a day when insurgent attacks against military targets, police and a public official left at least 20 dead in Iraq.

After the Samawah shooting, Muthanna Gov. Ahmed Marzouq said he couldn’t understand the behavior of the U.S. forces who, he said, acted inhumanely in firing on motorists who posed no threat and setting the truck of sheep ablaze.

“Usually they open fire when they get attacked or when in danger; however, the zones they passed through were safe,” Marzouq said.

He said the troops had entered without notifying local officials, violating protocols laid down when the southern province took over responsibility for its own security in July 2006.

In response, Marzouq said, the provincial council suspended construction projects being carried out by the U.S. military and by two nongovernmental organizations.

“We’ll continue this until there is a fair investigation, an official apology and compensation for the victims,” he said.

The American military did not address the circumstances of the shooting, but said in a statement, “The coalition forces will work closely with the families, tribal and government leaders in Muthanna to convey our deep regret and ensure the families of those killed, and those who were injured, are properly cared for.”

Police and witnesses said the convoy of five Humvees was on the highway from Samawah, 150 miles southeast of Baghdad, headed toward Rumaitha when the shooting began.

The injured included two policemen, who were reported in critical condition. They were among those assigned to guard Muthanna councilman Mohammed Hassouni, who was not with them. Samawah Police Chief Kadhim Abu Hail said his men refrained from firing back to avoid further casualties. One of the injured, Emira Kshaish, 40, said three bullets hit her in the leg.

Raji Allawi, treated at a hospital for wounds to the chest and abdomen, said his car was not moving when he was shot.

In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting an undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance exploded just after 5 p.m., killing 10 bystanders and injuring 21 people at Hurriya Square in the Karada neighborhood, police said.

Two of the injured were guards of the undersecretary, one of four in the ministry, who was traveling in a convoy, said a Rusafa district police source. The name of the undersecretary, who was not injured, was not disclosed.

The American deaths in Baqubah brought to 3,871 the number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, based on statistics compiled by icasualties.org, an independent website that tracks Iraq war casualties.

An Iraqi police convoy was targeted with a car bomb in the northern city of Mosul, killing three civilians and injuring 15 people, including five officers, police said.

Police in Hillah, south of Baghdad, reported today that a 10-year-old girl was killed Saturday night by unknown gunmen in a nearby village.

Four unidentified homicide victims were found in the capital Sunday.

During a news briefing in the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, Rear Adm. Greg Smith said that the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq, though seriously disrupted since the U.S. military buildup this year, was likely to rebuild.

“We are still in a fight with an enemy that is determined and has the capacity to conduct barbaric attacks,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, we are reminded of this daily.”

Iraq’s most violent day in weeks coincided with a march in Baghdad’s Sadr City to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Sadr during the regime of Saddam Hussein. He was the father of anti-U.S. Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr.

About 600 people marched, shouting, “Let the blood of the martyr be a symbol for unity, love and solidarity.”

A series of explosions rumbled across the capital from the northeast at about 7:30 a.m. Witnesses described rocket or mortar fire hitting a U.S. base in the heavily Shiite area of Shaab and said it appeared that a munitions cache had exploded.

The military said a nearby base in the Bunuk part of the Adhamiya neighborhood was also hit by indirect fire.

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Times staff writers Wail Alhafith, Saif Rasheed and Raheem Salman and special correspondents in Baghdad, Baqubah, Mosul and Samawah contributed to this report.