70 Iraqis killed in US airstrikes
US helicopters and warplanes bombed two villages near the city of Ramadi, a hotbed of Sunni-Arab insurgents west of Baghdad, killing about 70 Iraqis, the military said today.
The military said all the dead were militants, though witnesses said at least 39 were civilians. The violence yesterday occurred a day after Iraq voted on a landmark constitution.
On referendum day, a roadside bomb killed five US soldiers in a vehicle in Al-Bu Ubaid village on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi.
A group gathered around the wreckage of the US vehicle and were hit by the airstrikes, both the military and witnesses said.
The military said about 20 “terrorists” were killed. But several witnesses said the people were civilians who had gathered to look at the wreckage. The airstrike killed 25 people, said Chiad Saad, a tribal leader.
The other deaths were in the village of Al-Bu Faraj. The military said a group of gunmen opened fire on a Cobra attack helicopter. Witnesses said at least 14 of the dead were civilians.
