Child among 5 killed by U.S. soldiers

BAGHDAD – A child was among at least five Iraqis killed when U.S. soldiers opened fire in two incidents in central Iraq during a span of 24 hours.

The shootings involved vehicles that the soldiers reportedly perceived as threatening. Three women and a man were killed while riding a minibus to work in the northeastern Baghdad neighborhood of Shaab, according to the Interior Ministry.

Abu Ahmed, a 45-year-old bank employee injured in the shooting, said he and his colleagues were riding the minibus from their homes to work in the morning when the incident occurred.

A U.S. military spokesman said soldiers opened fire when the vehicle turned on to a road that had been closed to all traffic but family cars. The soldiers opened fire when “the driver failed to heed a warning shot.”

The military said initial reports indicated that two Iraqis were killed and four wounded. The discrepancy between the death tolls cited by U.S. and Iraqi officials could not be immediately resolved.

Separately, U.S. soldiers shot at a car speeding through a roadblock north of Baghdad on Monday during an offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq. One child and two men were killed in the incident near Baiji, north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

“The ground force fired warning shots, but the driver attempted to speed through the roadblock. Perceiving hostile intent, the ground force engaged, killing both men,” the statement read.

The spate of shootings came after the U.S. and Iraqi governments signed a declaration of principles Monday committing them to reaching an agreement by the end of next year on America’s long-term security role in Iraq, including the status of U.S. forces.