Clashes with U.S. forces kill 9 civilians in Iraq

Three people die in a car in Baghdad. In Tikrit, an air strike destroys a house. American troops were fired on in both cases, U.S. military officials say.

By Doug Smith
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

10:18 AM PDT, June 25, 2008

BAGHDAD -- Nine civilians were killed today in two firefights with U.S. soldiers, local authorities reported. The military said U.S. soldiers were fired upon first in both incidents.

In the capital, three people were killed in a fiery vehicle crash after gunfire erupted as they passed U.S. soldiers from another convoy stopped near the Baghdad International Airport to recover a stalled vehicle.

Officials at Yarmouk Hospital identified the dead as a manager and two female employees of a bank at the airport. Iraqi police also reported that two bodyguards were injured.

A statement from the U.S. military said the three dead people were criminals who opened fire on the military convoy about 9 a.m. The statement said that the assault left bullet holes in the U.S. vehicles and that a weapon was found in the wreckage.

The conflicting information in the two reports could not be immediately resolved.

Earlier today near Tikrit, about 90 miles north of Baghdad, six people were killed and two injured when a house was destroyed by a U.S. airstrike, police said. A U.S. ground patrol called in the strike after coming under fire.

Police said someone in the house heard the patrol outside about 2:30 a.m. and fired three warning shots in the air, thinking the soldiers were thieves.

A statement from the military said surveillance teams saw an armed man move into a nearby group of buildings.

The military did not confirm any deaths, but issued a standard statement saying "coalition forces take extensive precautions to protect civilians during their operations."

Civilian deaths at the hands of the U.S. military and private security contractors are a nagging cause of resentment with the Iraqi public and have become a sticking point in negotiations on an agreement to allow U.S.-led forces to remain in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

The Iraqi government is seeking legal jurisdiction in all cases involving injury or death to Iraqis. U.S. negotiators are willing to allow private security contractors to come under Iraqi law, but not the military.