US air strikes in eastern Baghdad where Shiite militamen are battling US and Iraqi forces killed two people and set homes ablaze, wounding three civilians, the military said yesterday.
Two US soldiers were also wounded in Saturday’s air strike, which targeted a group of people planting roadside bombs in the eastern Baghdad mainly Shiite neighborhood of New Baghdad, a US military statement said.
The attack was part of ongoing military operations against militiamen in the capital, the southern port city of Basra and other Shiite areas of Iraq launched by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on March 25.
The US military statement said an aerial weapons team (AWT) fired a Hellfire missile on Saturday at “criminals” planting a roadside bomb in New Baghdad adjoining Sadr City, killing two and destroying the device.
“The AWT engaged the remaining criminals with a second Hellfire missile. The second missile overshot its intended target and struck a coalition forces vehicle, starting it and nearby houses on fire,” it said.
Three civilians and two soldiers were wounded, the statement added.
“[The] events are unfortunate and our apologies go out to those innocent civilians who were affected,” said Colonel Bill Buckner, a US military spokesman.
Tensions between the Mehdi Army and the security forces have been further inflamed by the killing of senior Sadr aide Riyad al-Nuri on Friday.
Al-Nuri as killed in an attack carried out in broad daylight after the main weekly Muslim prayers in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Sadr’s movement has accused US forces of being behind the killing, and the cleric late on Saturday lashed out at US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, saying he would always remain his enemy because he is the occupier of Iraq.
“You have always been my enemy. And you will always be my enemy till the last drop of my blood,” Sadr said in a statement.
He was reacting to comments by Gates in which he reportedly said, referring to Sadr, that those who are prepared to work peacefully “within the political process in Iraq” are not seen as enemies of the US.
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