The children die at the hands of the suicidists one day, regular military the next

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Monday November 21, 2005 13:57 by Repeater

Tell us the difference please

The children die at the hands of the suicidists one day, regular military the next.

US troops kill five Iraqi civilians at checkpoint


Five Iraqi civilians have been killed after US troops opened fire on their vehicle near a military base north of Baghdad.

Two children died in the attack which happened outside of Baquba.

A survivor told journalists the family was travelling from Balad, a town just north of Baghdad, to Baquba for a funeral when they were shot at by a US patrol as it approached them on the road.


"As we tried to move over to one side to let them pass, they opened fire," one of the survivors said.

An Iraqi police official said the minivan the family was travelling in was taken away by US forces shortly afterwards.

Reuters television footage showed the dead children in a morgue in Baquba and relatives kissing another dead body on a morgue trolley.


"They are all children. They are not terrorists," shouted one relative. "Look at the children," he said as a morgue official carried a small dead child into a refrigeration room.


"We felt bullets hitting the car from behind and from in front," said another survivor. "Heads were blown off. One child had his hand shot off," he said.