A U.S. helicopter strike north of Baghdad killed eight civilians, including several children, an Iraqi police official said Thursday. The U.S. military acknowledged that children died.
According to the AP, Beiji police Col. Mudhher al-Qaisi said the eight were civilian farmers who were fleeing in their vehicle from an area outside the town where U.S. forces were conducting raids. He said the helicopter became suspicious of the vehicle and opened fire.
The U.S. military said American forces were targeting an al-Qaeda in Iraq weapons storage facility. It said the helicopter opened fire on the vehicle when some of its occupants "exhibited hostile intent," and that children in the vehicle were killed.
The U.S. military "sincerely regrets when any innocent civilians are injured, resulting from terrorists locating themselves in and around them. We take every precaution to protect innocent civilians and engage only hostile threats," said spokesman Col. Jerry O'Hara in the statement.
Meanwhile, for the second night in a row, clashes erupted in the Baghdadi district of Obeidi late Wednesday. Iraqi police officials said three civilians were killed in the fighting, including an Iraqi television cameraman, Wissam Ali Auda, of Afaq TV. Auda, 30, was apparently caught in the crossfire on his way home, said Tariq Maher, a correspondent for Afaq TV, which is affiliated with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party. A second journalist was killed north of Baghdad. The bullet-riddled body of Hashim al-Hussein, a correspondent for the Sharq newspaper, was found dumped near the city of Baqouba, police and morgue officials said.
Al-Hussein, 35, was kidnapped Tuesday near his home in the Tahrir area and his body was found in nearby Buhriz, the officials said.
