The Hindu : International : U.S. apologises

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005

International

International

U.S. apologises

By Rory McCarthy

BAGHDAD, JAN. 10. U.S. Commanders ordered an investigation yesterday after they admitted mistakenly bombing a civilian house in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing at least five people.

Iraqis said 14 people died in the bombing in the village of Aaytha. Television images showed 14 freshly dug graves. The dead included seven children, according to a photographer at the scene.

The U.S. military said five people had been killed. It said an F-16 jet dropped a 500lb satellite-guided bomb on the house in support of troops who were trying to catch an ``anti-Iraqi force cell leader''.

``The house was not the intended target for the air strike. The intended target was another location nearby,'' the military said on Saturday. ``Multi-National Force Iraq deeply regrets the loss of possibly innocent lives.''

It was a rare admission for the U.S. military. When at least 40 people were killed in a bombing raid on a house in a village near the Syrian border last year, the military said the dead were ``foreign fighters'', while several witnesses said they were guests at a wedding.

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