U.S. Central Command issued a statement late Friday saying that one of its airstrikes may have killed 10 Iraqi soldiers.
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Nine Iraqi soldiers have been killed by “friendly fire” from US-led coalition aircraft during an assault on an Islamic State stronghold, according to The Guardian.
Coalition air forces had been dispatched to cover the advance of Iraqi ground troops moving in on Fallujah, as Iraqi army helicopters were not able to fly due to bad weather at the time.
A third airstrike struck when the two sides were in close combat, resulting in casualties to both, it said.
The coalition, which offered condolences for “the unfortunate loss of life” of Iraqis on the front lines, said the strikes took place Friday near Falluja. He said the death toll was a “correction” to earlier numbers that said just one Iraqi soldier had died, a fact that was disputed by soldiers who witnessed the strike.
U.S. media outlets reported U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter as calling the incident “a mistake that involved both sides”.
The statement added that “to the best of our knowledge, there have been no previous incidents of friendly fire in Iraq involving the Coalition during the course of Operation Inherent Resolve”. He called Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi to express condolences. The U.S. says it’ll investigate the incident.
The deadly airstrike could further complicate political discussions among the Shiite Muslim-led government, which has also partnered with Iranian forces and Iraqi Shiite militias backed by Iran.
Abadi is under enormous pressure to distance himself and the Iraqi military from appearing too reliant on the USA government in its war against Islamic State militants who still control some of Iraq’s largest cities.
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CENTCOM insists that the airstrikes were carried out with Iraq’s approval.
