U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Saturday that an American airstrike near the embattled city of Fallujah that killed several Iraqi soldiers was a “mistake that involved both sides”, according to media reports. “The explosion was very big”.
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The air strike came in response to requests and information provided by Iraqi security forces on the ground near Fallujah, which IS controls, the USA military added.
The army medic said that he did not know how many soldiers had been killed but that far more than nine were injured. Obeidi said he would “not neglect the blood of Iraqis”.
The strike was near Fallujah, and hit troops from Iraq’s 3rd Division, 55th Brigade, which were trying to retake an area held by ISIS.
“We were moving forward and Daesh were retreating, when suddenly the bombing took place on the forces that were behind us”, he said. “We don’t know at this point”, Warren said. Some Western states have also participated in some of the strikes in Iraq. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A statement from the Joint Operations Command on Friday mentioned that 10 had been “wounded or killed” but Obeidi and another senior military source clarified Saturday that 10 troops were killed. “We have formally invited Iraqi participation in the investigation”.
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It said the U.S. military would launch its own investigation into what it described as likely the first “friendly fire” incident involving the coalition since the war against IS was launched a year ago. “We are fully committed to the safety of our Iraqi partners while pursuing the destruction of our mutual enemies”.
