Iraq Sunni Leader Accidentally Killed

www.armytimes.com

BAGHDAD — American soldiers accidentally shot and killed the leader of a local U.S.-allied Sunni group Tuesday after coming under attack in a volatile area north of Baghdad, the military said.

The latest friendly fire incident came as tensions have been rising among the groups known as the Sons of Iraq, or awakening councils. The military has credited the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq as a key factor in a sharp decline in violence over the past year.

The head of the group in Siniyah, Jassim al-Garrout, was killed after he rushed to the site of an ambush against U.S. forces in the area, which lies between the northern oil-hub of Beiji and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, according to witnesses and police.

One of al-Garrout’s comrades said the group would demand an apology from the Americans.

“The awakening councils have become targets of al-Qaida, the government and sometimes even the U.S. forces. We do not know our fate and we are feeling lost,” Farooq Sami said.

“We are undertaking the task of combating terrorists, yet we are left sometimes unpaid and without money. We have participated in maintaining peace and security in our area, yet we sometimes do not get our salaries.”

The U.S. soldiers were hunting for insurgents and weapons after they were hit by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire near Siniyah, 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, according to an e-mailed military statement.

The troops then came under fire while searching a house and “shot a Sons of Iraq leader who was mistaken for the enemy when he entered the house,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Russell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. Medical aid was administered, the military said, but the troops were unable to save al-Garrout.

Russell said the U.S. soldiers had warned their Sunni allies to identify themselves and to stay clear of the house, and the shooting was being investigated.

“It is regrettable when incidents of mistaken fire occur on the battlefield,” he said.

The U.S.-funded Sunni movement has faced several friendly fire incidents, raising concerns about the difficulty of distinguishing enemy from foe after former insurgents turned against al-Qaida in Iraq.

The groups also face suspicions by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, which fears their decision to break with the insurgency was a short-term tactic to gain U.S. money and support........