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Controversy Over US Airstrike in Northern Iraq
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=106D019:3919ACA Iraqi police in Bayji
say six or more people from same family were killed





Search for the bodies of victims of U.S. airstrike in BayjiIraqi
authorities say a U.S. airstrike that demolished a home in northern
Iraq late Monday killed a number of people from the same family, but
there are conflicting reports about the extent of casualties.

Iraqi police in Bayji, where the airstrike took place, say six or more
people from the same family were killed.

U.S. military officials in Baghdad had no immediate comment on the
Iraqi police report, but they issued a statement saying American
pilots fired precision-guided munitions late Monday at three men in
Bayji who apparently had been planting roadside bombs in the area.

The unusually detailed statement said U.S. forces tracked the three
men as they buried a bomb. Observers in the sky watched as the men
entered a nearby building, which was then targeted by U.S. warplanes.

Earlier Tuesday, military officials say, a suicide bomber rammed a bus
and killed three policemen near the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad.

Separately, Iraq's election commission says an international team has
begun reviewing complaints related to last month's parliamentary vote,
and that this may force a delay in announcing final election results.

The visiting experts agreed to review the vote last week, following
widespread protests by secular Shi'ite and Sunni Arab parties about
alleged election fraud.

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

 


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