The incident was the first reported friendly fire to date in the US-led coalition’s war against ISIS in Iraq.
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Obeidi told a news conference that the strike occurred when coalition air forces were covering the advance of Iraqi ground troops near Fallujah because the Iraqi army helicopters were not able to fly due to the bad weather.
Obeidi said the death toll announcement was a “correction” to earlier statements that one Iraqi soldier had died – statements that were disputed by soldiers who witnessed the strike.
There have been few instances of “friendly fire” in Iraq since the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State began a year ago. “We lost 10 of our soldiers”, Obeidi said, adding that “an investigation into the incident was opened”.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said an American aircraft appeared to have conducted the strike, but he said it was “a mistake that involved both sides”. At least one of those bombs struck the Iraqi troops. The strikes hit an Islamic State tactical unit, militant vehicles and fighting positions, and a construction vehicle.
Asked whether he was anxious the deaths might anger Iraqi citizens who may not be happy with the American and coalition presence in Iraq, Carter said, “I hope Iraqis will understand that this is a reflection of things that happen in combat”. Hakim al-Zamili, head of the Iraqi Parliament’s security committee, said on Facebook that more than 20 soldiers were killed and 30 wounded.
“I met with the Joint Operations Command and they confirmed to me that we will regain all of the city of Ramadi by the end of this month”, Khaled al-Obeidi told reporters in Baghdad.
Carter visited the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which is expected to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State soon.
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CENTCOM insists that the airstrikes were carried out with Iraq’s approval. He said his government was working with the United States to investigate what Abadi called an “error”.
