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US helicopter kills Iraqi civilians
A US military helicopter air assault has killed eight Iraqi civilians, including two children, in Baiji, north of Baghdad.
A US military helicopter air assault has killed eight Iraqi civilians, including two children, in Baiji, north of Baghdad.
Colonel Mudhher al-Qaisi, Baiji's police chief, told Reuters news agency on Thursday that the attack targeted a car of shepherds who were in a farming area in the town late on Wednesday.
"This is a criminal act. It will make the relations between Iraqi citizens and the US forces tense. This will negatively affect security improvements," al-Qaisi said.
Police Major Ahmed Hussein said two boys aged eight and 11 were among the victims.
A doctor who asked not to be named said Baiji hospital received eight bodies after the incident, including a 60-year-old man.
Reuters photographs showed relatives of the dead standing beside their corpses covered by white sheets outside a mosque in Baiji, 180km north of Baghdad.
Lieutenant-Colonel Maura Gillen, a US military spokeswoman, said the military was following up the incident, in which "suspicious activity" had been noted and warnings to stop the car were ignored.
The incident comes at a sensitive time.
Senior government officials expressed outrage after reports this month that a US soldier had used a copy of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, for target practice. The soldier was disciplined and removed from Iraq.