Salah al-Din governor deputy condemns U.S raid of northern town

SALAH Al-Din, Sept.19 (Iraqi News) Salah governor deputy on Friday denounced a U.S forces raid in northern Iraqi town, branding the operation as “tragic”. “Early excuses presented by U.S. troops to al-Dour town police were rejected,”

Salah al-Din governor deputy Abdullah Hussein Jabbara told IraqiNews.com-Voices of Iraq (Iraqi News). U.S troops said “troops ordered the house occupants to come out. After an hour, an armed man appeared who was shot dead, the military said, adding he was later determined to be the wanted militant. “The house is occupied by one family and no alien was inside or entered the house when the house was raided,” Jabbara explained.

A Salah al-Din police source said “U.S. choppers shelled a house in al-Dour district in south of Tikrit, killing eight members of the same family, in addition to destroying the house.” Civilian deaths are a sensitive issue in Iraq as it negotiates a deal with the U.S. that will govern the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq when a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. O

ne of the key sticking points is the question of immunity for U.S. soldiers. In May, Iraqi police said eight civilians were killed in a helicopter strike in the northern town of Baeji, although U.S. forces said six of them were suspected militants with links to a bombing network.