BAGHDAD — Leaders in two Iraqi villages denounced American troops on Saturday for what they described as the killings of an Iraqi family and three other people who were working with the Americans against the insurgents.
In one of the villages, Zab, nearly 1,000 mourners flocked Saturday to the funeral of family members of a sheik who died in an attack there. T American military has denied having operations in the area at the time.
At least five people were killed there Thursday night.
In the other village, Jurf al Sukr, a number of Iraqi guardsmen quit Saturday to protest the killings. The America military said it was investigating, but indicated that its troops had been fired upon and returned fire.
Three people were killed there early Friday.
The killings were the latest in a series of claims of mistaken attacks by American forces on the informal Iraqi allies known as Awakening Councils. In some of these cases, it remains unclear precisely what happened.
The American military has acknowledged the accidental killings of more than 25 people in Taji in November, and several members of an Awakening group near Iskandariya this month.
In a disputed case, six men who were said to be Awakening Council members and two women were killed near Raween in Salahuddin Province early Thursday. The Iraqi police and the American military say the Americans were fired on first.
The Awakening Councils are locally organized so it is often difficult to verify someone’s membership from a distance.
There were varying accounts of the killings in Zab, which is in the rough mountainous area that stretches between Mosul, Kirkuk and Bayji in northern Iraq. However, a sheik who lived next door to the family who was attacked said five people had been killed there and 13 arrested.............
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