Iraq has opened an investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of 9 Iraqi soldiers in a coalition airstrike west of Baghdad, the defence minister said on Saturday.
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The helicopter carrying U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter arrives on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Persian Gulf Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015.
It took place near the city of Fallujah – in response to Iraqi requests for air support to help soldiers fighting so-called Islamic State militants.
The statement did not say how many Iraqi soldiers may have been killed; other officials said the Iraqis initially reported that about 10 may have died.
This may mark the first friendly fire incident in Iraq for the US since airstrikes started, but it’s not actually the first for the coalition’s campaign.
“The secretary and the prime minister committed to work together to prevent such incidents in the future and to ensure that this incident is not exploited by those who wish to create divisions between the United States and Iraq”, Cook said. Carter said the incident was “a mistake that involved both sides”, adding there would be an investigation.
Carter, who visited Afghanistan on Friday, will fly to Moscow on Sunday for talks on Syria. “All of our airstrikes in Iraq are conducted with the approval of the Government of Iraq in order to assist them in their fight against Daesh; we take great measures to prevent these types of incidents while protecting our partnered forces”, the coalition said in a statement. We have formally invited Iraqi participation in the investigation.
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Fallujah and much of Anbar, including its capital Ramadi, are made up mostly of Sunni Arabs. Jihadists still holed up in the city centre and using tunnels to avoid air strikes may number no more than 300, according to military officials.
