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.
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The US military is leading an worldwide coalition that is waging an air offensive on the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
It said the airstrike was conducted at the request of Iraqi security forces on the ground near Fallujah.
“I wanted to assure Prime Minister Abadi that I was aware of this incident, that we regretted this incident”, Carter told reporters traveling with him on a Navy warship in the Persian Gulf, after speaking with Abadi by phone.
Carter said the “regrettable” strike was an indication of “how closely we are working with the government” of Iraq to combat ISIS.
An air strike by the US-led coalition countering the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group may have led to the death of Iraqi soldiers, the U.S. military said in a statement.
Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi made the announcement on Saturday, a day after the airstrike hit the Iraqi army’s 3rd Division 55th Brigade, located near the city of Fallujah in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad.
Baghdad says it has opened an investigating into a recent airstrike carried out by the United States in Anbar Province, which claimed the lives of at least 10 Iraqi soldiers. Carter said the incident was “a mistake that involved both sides”, adding there would be an investigation. Hakim al-Zamili, head of the Iraqi Parliament’s security committee, said on Facebook that more than 20 soldiers were killed and 30 wounded.
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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 previous year.
