British military investigators will examine allegations about the death of a 62-year-old Iraqi woman who was caught up in crossfire during a raid on her home, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday.
One of Sabiha Khudur Talib’s sons claims British soldiers were involved in “torturing” and “executing” the grandmother in 2006.
Police in Basra, Iraq, reportedly concluded that the woman’s body was dumped on a roadside in a British body bag and documents detailing their findings are to be passed to British ministers, the Independent newspaper said.
The newspaper reported that police had established there was a bullet hole in her abdomen and her face bore injuries consistent with torture.
The MoD confirmed the woman was shot by British troops when she was caught in crossfire, but deny she was murdered or tortured.
Her family say the house was raided in the early hours of Nov. 15, 2006, and they saw Talib being led away by soldiers afterwards.
Another of her sons, Karim Gatii Karim al-Maliki, reportedly fired a rifle into a ceiling to scare off what he believed were criminal intruders and he was killed when the soldiers fired into the house.
Lawyers for the family demanded a full inquiry.
Phil Shiner, of Public Interest Lawyers, told the Independent: “The possibility that British forces in 2006 could have tortured and executed an innocent elderly woman should shock the nation.”
“Such an allegation must be immediately independently investigated as a possible murder,” he said.
The case is one of 47 claims of abuse and torture lodged by Iraqis represented by Shiner that are being investigated by the British government.
A spokesman for the MoD said: “A post-incident report from 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment describes an incident on 15 November 2006 in which soldiers from the unit were conducting an arrest operation when an Iraqi national, Karim Gatii Karim, opened fire on them.”
“One British soldier was wounded and Karim Gatii Karim was shot dead. Mr Karim’s mother, Sabiha Khudur Talib was regrettably wounded in the crossfire and, despite attempts to save her, she sadly died of her wounds,” he said.
“She was not tortured by British Forces and her body was not dumped by the roadside. It was returned to Iraqi authorities,” the spokesman said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in