US fire kills Iraqi civilians as 'shepherd' bombs police
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Nine Iraqis, including three women and a child, were reported killed by US fire while a suicide bomber disguised as a shepherd killed seven people in an attack on police on Tuesday, officials said.
The latest civilian deaths came as Iraqis began reassessing the role of the US military in their war-ravaged country and a day after Washington and Baghdad agreed to maintain American forces in Iraq beyond 2008.
At least 16 other people were killed in violence north of Baghdad on Tuesday, including a civilian who died when a woman suicide bomber blew herself up as a US foot patrol passed in the city of Baquba.
Iraqi security officials said three women and a man were killed when the minibus they were travelling in came under US fire in the Al-Shaab neighbourhood of northeast Baghdad.
The vehicle was carrying employees of Al-Rasheed bank and the gunfire wounded another two people -- a woman and a man, they said.
A US military spokesman told AFP that US forces fired on a minibus in Baghdad "after the driver failed to heed a warning shot."
"The bus was travelling on a street that is off-limits to vehicles other than passenger cars," the spokesman said.
"Initial reporting indicates that two passengers were killed and four wounded. The incident is under investigation."
In a similar incident, two people were killed and six wounded when a US patrol opened fire on a civilian car in the Tobchi neighbourhood of north Baghdad, security officials said.
The incident took place at around 8:30 pm (1730 GMT), they said.
The US military when contacted said it was checking the reports.
In a separate statement, the military said its troops opened fire on a car which tried to speed through a roadblock during an operation against Al-Qaeda in the northern oil refinery town of Baiji on Monday, killing a child and two men.
"The ground force fired warning shots, but the driver attempted to speed through the roadblock. Perceiving hostile intent, the ground force engaged, killing both men," it said.
A wounded child was found inside the vehicle and transferred to a military hospital where he died.
According to the Iraqi Body Count website, which keeps an independent tally of Iraqi deaths, between 77,333 and 84,250 civilians have been killed since the US-led invasion of 2003.
In Tuesday's deadliest attack, a suicide bomber disguised as a shepherd blew himself up in front of police headquarters in the central city of Baquba, killing seven people and wounding another seven, police said.
Police Captain Mohaned al-Bawi of Baquba police said the attacker was herding sheep past the main entrance of the police station when he detonated his explosive vest.
"He had sheep with him and looked like a shepherd," Bawi said. "He detonated his explosives at the entrance when it was crowded with people."
Diyala province of which Baquba is the capital is has seen a resurgence of attacks by Al-Qaeda-linked militants in recent weeks despite a counter-offensive by US and Iraqi forces.
In Salaheddin province north of the capital, insurgents killed two US soldiers and wounded two more in a bomb attack on their vehicle, the military said.
The deaths brought the military's losses in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to 3,877, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
The bloodshed came after US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki agreed on Monday to negotiate early next year the terms of an American military presence in the country beyond 2008.
The two leaders signed a non-binding statement of principles for the talks, setting a July 31, 2008 target date to formalise future economic, political, and security relations.
Sunnis and Shiites alike sharply criticised the prime minister for reaching the agreement.
The hardline Sunni religious body, the Muslim Scholars' Association, suspected of links to insurgent groups, said the agreement gave the US a right to "kill, demolish and humiliate Iraqis."
Liwa Sumaysim, an MP for the Shiite radical faction of anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, insisted that Maliki stick to his pledge that parliament would have the final say on any deal reached with Washington.
"We have strong reservations on the pact, although it is a non-binding one. The Iraqi parliament must have the final word on it," he said.
