Two Iraqis died and four were injured in an incident involving a U.S. military convoy in a southern province, American officials said. Local officials said the soldiers had opened fire randomly.
According to the AP, a spokesman for the Muthanna provincial council said that American troops in a convoy opened fire Sunday on a group of cars on the highway between the cities of Samawah, some 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, and Rumaitha to the north.
Shakir al-Ajibi described the act as "criminal and brutal" and said the provincial council had decided to cut ties with U.S. officials and reconstruction teams in protest. According to him, five cars and a truck carrying sheep were burned and said the provincial governor had urged the Iraqi government to open an investigation.
The statement issued jointly by the U.S. military and the U.S. Embassy voiced "deep regret" for the deaths and promised the incident was being fully investigated. "Initial reports are that an incident involving a U.S. military convoy resulted in the death of two Iraqi citizens and wounded four others," it said. "We profoundly regret when any innocent civilian is killed or injured."
Meanwhile, a suicide attack on Sunday killed three U.S. troops during combat operations in the Iraqi city of Baquba. The US military in a statement said three soldiers died as a result of a "suicide vest attack" in the city of Baquba, the capital of the restive Diyala province.
