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US air strike kills Iraqi troops | US air strike kills Iraqi troops |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Eight Iraqi soldiers have been killed and six wounded in a US helicopter strike in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, local officials have said. | |
The officials described Friday's incident as an act of "friendly fire", which hit an Iraqi army position in the east of the city. | The officials described Friday's incident as an act of "friendly fire", which hit an Iraqi army position in the east of the city. |
The US military said five men were killed, and said the intended target had been a suspected al-Qaeda cell. | The US military said five men were killed, and said the intended target had been a suspected al-Qaeda cell. |
It expressed its "deepest sympathies" to the families of the dead. | It expressed its "deepest sympathies" to the families of the dead. |
Iraqi concerns | |
The Kurdish officials said US helicopters hit the men who were guarding a branch of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Mosul. | |
They said the victims were all Kurdish. | |
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who leads the PUK, was concerned about the incident and wanted more details about what happened, his spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. | |
The US military said the attack was launched after its soldiers had identified armed men in a bunker near a building that was reportedly used for bomb-making. | |
The troops called for the men to put down their weapons in Arabic and Kurdish, before launching the strike, the US said. | The troops called for the men to put down their weapons in Arabic and Kurdish, before launching the strike, the US said. |
One local official told the BBC that the victims were Peshmerga fighters. | One local official told the BBC that the victims were Peshmerga fighters. |
Peshmergas spent decades resisting the Saddam Hussein regime. | Peshmergas spent decades resisting the Saddam Hussein regime. |
Many joined the Iraqi army after he was ousted. | Many joined the Iraqi army after he was ousted. |