U.S. forces fired on a minibus carrying bank employees to work Tuesday, killing as many as four passengers, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said two people died after the driver disregarded a warning shot and drove into an area limited to cars.
The shooting took place in northern Baghdad's Shaab neighborhood as the driver was collecting employees to go to work at Rasheed bank, police said, according to the AP. U.S. troops fired when the bus reached the U.S. roadblock and tried to drive through, killing four passengers, including three women, police and hospital officials said.
In a statement, the American army said the driver was traveling on a street restricted to cars only, and failed to heed a warning shot. On his part, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman, said a Finance Ministry bus came under fire, and one woman died and five passengers were hurt.
The dead and injured were taken to Kindi Hospital, hospital officials said.
Elsewhere, six people died when a suicide bomber attacked provincial police headquarters in Baquba north of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said. According to Reuters, the bomber detonated a suicide vest packed with explosives at the back gate of the Diyala provincial police headquarters in Baquba, 65 km north of Baghdad.
Three policemen died in the blast and eight others, including another four police, were hurt. Gunfire which erupted after the explosion killed another three people, including two women, police said.
