Sgt Sostand
09-12-03, 03:27 PM
FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. soldiers mistakenly opened fire on uniformed Iraqi policemen chasing highway bandits at night, killing eight officers and a Jordanian security guard and wounding nine other people Friday in this dangerous "Sunni Triangle" city near Baghdad, Iraqi police said.
About an hour later and 30 miles to the west, two U.S. soldiers were killed and seven wounded in a pre-dawn raid in the town of Ramadi, the military said. The U.S. military gave no other information about the second shooting in the Fallujah region, where support for Saddam Hussein runs strong.
Many Iraqis claim friends and relatives have been shot and killed when they failed to stop at U.S. checkpoints in Baghdad, but until Friday there had been no reports of friendly fire involving U.S. forces and the growing U.S.-sponsored Iraqi police, militia and military.
"We shouted 'We are police. We are police.' Then we drove off the road into a field," Arkan Adnan Ahmed, 19, said at Fallujah Hospital, where he was being treated for a shoulder wound. "They started shooting from all sides."
About an hour later and 30 miles to the west, two U.S. soldiers were killed and seven wounded in a pre-dawn raid in the town of Ramadi, the military said. The U.S. military gave no other information about the second shooting in the Fallujah region, where support for Saddam Hussein runs strong.
Many Iraqis claim friends and relatives have been shot and killed when they failed to stop at U.S. checkpoints in Baghdad, but until Friday there had been no reports of friendly fire involving U.S. forces and the growing U.S.-sponsored Iraqi police, militia and military.
"We shouted 'We are police. We are police.' Then we drove off the road into a field," Arkan Adnan Ahmed, 19, said at Fallujah Hospital, where he was being treated for a shoulder wound. "They started shooting from all sides."