Two Iraqi women shot dead at checkpoint
The US military said today two Iraqi women were shot to death in a city north of Baghdad after coalition forces fired at a car that failed to stop at an observation post.
The statement came after Iraqi police said a pregnant woman and her cousin were killed by American troops as they were driving to a maternity hospital in Samarra, a predominantly Sunni city 60 miles north of Baghdad.
A car entered a clearly-marked prohibited area near coalition troops at an observation post but “shots were fired to disable the vehicle” after it failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory signals, the military said in a statement.
“Coalition forces later received reports from Iraqi police that two women had died from gunshot wounds … and one of the females may have been pregnant,” the statement said, adding the incident was under investigation.
“The loss of life is regrettable and coalition forces go to great lengths to prevent them,” the military said.
