A US military helicopter air strike on Wednesday night killed eight civilians, including two children and an elderly man, north of Baghdad, police officials said yesterday.
Colonel Mudhher al-Qaisi, police chief in the town of Baiji, said the attack was on a group of shepherds in a car in a farming area. Relatives said some of those killed were fleeing on foot after the US military arrived in the area.
“This is a criminal act. It will make the relations between Iraqi citizens and the US forces tense,” al-Qaisi said.
PHOTO: AP
A US military spokeswoman, Lieutenant-Colonel Maura Gillen, said the helicopter fired after noting “suspicious activity.”
UN officials have expressed concern at the number of civilians killed in air strikes in Iraq and said more care must be taken in military operations to protect them.
Resident Ghafil Rashed said his brother and son were killed in the raid.
“The Americans raided our houses ... People start fleeing with their children, then the aircraft started bombing people in a street along the farm.”
The US military said the incident was under investigation.
“Coalition forces regret the loss of innocent civilian lives,” said Navy Captain Gordon Delcambre in a press statement. “Terrorists continue to show their disregard for human life by endangering children with their illegal and violent activities.”
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki traveled to the southern holy Shiite city of Najaf yesterday in order to meet Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.
The talks come amid further government discussions on a possible Cabinet reshuffle.
Al-Sistani, who lives in Najaf, is a recluse who rarely makes public appearances. But he wields considerable political influence.
Al-Sistani backs al-Maliki’s Shiite United Iraqi Alliance but he also promotes national reconciliation and the integration of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority into the political process.
Al-Maliki is also currently conducting talks with the main Sunni bloc of the Iraqi Accord Front over its possible return to the Cabinet.
In related news, two Iraqi journalists were killed in separate incidents in Baghdad and Diyala on Wednesday, police and their employers said yesterday.
Wissa Ali Ouda, a reporter for private television station Afaq, was killed by a sniper as he was heading home, his editor-in-chief Khazaal Ghazi said.
The body of another journalist, Haidar Hashem al-Husseini, was found in the town of Baquba northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, two days after he was kidnapped, a local police official said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across