 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   | 
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S.-led raid kills civilians north of BaladPolice, American military differ on number of casualties
RELATED
SPECIAL REPORT
• Interactive: Who's who in Iraq
• Interactive: Sectarian divide
• Timeline: Bloodiest days for civilians
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSBAGHDAD (CNN) -- A U.S.-led raid on a suspected site of terror network al Qaeda in Iraq killed 11 civilians -- including five children -- according to Iraqi police, but the U.S. military said the death toll from the strike north of Balad was four. In addition to the children, the youngest of whom was 6 months old, the dead included four women and two men, police said. A U.S. military spokesman said a suspected insurgent, two women and a child were killed in the raid on a building about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Balad. U.S.-led forces came under fire as they raided the building, said Maj. Tim O'Keefe. Air support fired on the site, and the targeted building and a vehicle were destroyed, O'Keefe said. A man suspected of being a "foreign fighter facilitator" was taken into coalition custody and is being questioned. Police Capt. Laith Mohammed told The Associated Press that U.S. warplanes and armor were involved in the strike, which flattened a house and killed the 11 people inside. (Gallery -- Viewer discretion advised) An AP reporter at the scene said the roof of the house collapsed, three cars were destroyed and two cows killed. AP photographs showed the bodies of two men, five children and four other covered bodies arriving at a hospital in Tikrit accompanied by grieving relatives. More U.S. troops headed to IraqAn armored battalion of up to 700 U.S. troops from the 1st Armored Division has been ordered into Iraq, military officials said Wednesday. The move comes amid rising sectarian violence, but a U.S. official attributed the need for extra backup to the seating of the new Iraqi parliament and an upcoming Shiite religious holiday. (Watch U.S. officials express unease about execution killings -- 2:36) Some troops already have arrived in the Baghdad area. About 132,000 U.S. forces are in Iraq. A brigade of about 3,500 troops from the 1st Armored Division has been on standby in Kuwait as a backup force. The battalion will stay in Iraq for some weeks, and then officials said they would evaluate how much longer they are needed. Blasts in Baquba, BaghdadThree bombings killed five people and left more than a dozen injured Wednesday in Baquba, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) north of Baghdad. In the morning, a roadside bomb attack killed an Iraqi police officer and wounded a second one while they were on patrol, said an official with the Diyala Joint Coordination Center. Around midday, a motorcycle bomb exploded in a Baquba marketplace, killing two people and wounding six others, police said. An Iraqi army convoy had just passed by the area. A third bomb exploded in a cell phone shop in a central shopping center, killing two people and wounding a dozen others, said a spokesman from the Diyala Joint Coordination Center. Five shops were damaged in the blast. Police found detonators in a search of the shop and suspect it was used to manufacture bombs, the spokesman said. In eastern Baghdad's Sadr City, a car bomb also turned deadly Wednesday, killing one civilian and wounding two others, said a Baghdad emergency police official. Hussein testifies for first time; trial adjourns till April 5The judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein closed the Wednesday session to the media after the former Iraqi leader made political statements, including a call on Iraqis to unite and resist U.S.-led coalition forces. (Watch a report on Hussein pushing the judge's buttons -- 6:36) Judge Raouf Abdel Rahman said he considered the comments incendiary, and he cut off Hussein's microphone at least nine times. (Full story) Hussein's remarks came amid fears of an outbreak of civil war. Sectarian violence across Iraq left nearly 90 dead within a 30-hour period ending midday Tuesday. (Full story) The trial was reopened to reporters later but then was adjourned for three weeks, to April 5. In a separate case, Europe's human rights court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Hussein against 21 European countries whose troops joined the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq. (Full story) CNN's Arwa Damon, Nic Robertson, Barbara Starr and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
