US Attack Kills 15 Iraqi Civilians

Nineteen insurgents also believed dead in strike
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 12, 2007 7:08 AM CDT
US Attack Kills 15 Iraqi Civilians
An Iraqi man stands behind a pool of blood outside an apartment building after a U.S. air strike in the Sihha district in Dora southern Baghdad, Iraq, early Friday, Sept. 28, 2007. Iraqi police and witnesses said U.S. troops backed by helicopter gun ships raided an apartment building in a primarily...   (Associated Press)

In one of the war's largest losses of civilian life in a US operation, a raid north of Baghdad yesterday killed 9 Iraqi children and 6 women. Nineteen suspected insurgents also died in the air and ground strike, which targeted a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders, BBC reports. The US blamed the insurgents for putting the civilians in danger.

An American spokesman voiced regret for the deaths but added: "These terrorists chose to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence." United Nations officials, however, have previously expressed concern about the high civilian casualty rate in attacks by US-led forces. The US military is currently "reviewing information from the scene," said a spokesman. (More Iraq stories.)

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