E-Paper
2 children killed in Iraq checkpoint error: US
US Marines said they killed two children at a checkpoint in Iraq, when the driver of the vehicle in which the youngsters were travelling ignored warnings to stop.
US Marines said they killed two children at a checkpoint in Iraq on Friday, when the driver of the vehicle in which the youngsters were travelling ignored warnings to stop, creating fears of a suicide attack.
Captain Jay Delarosa, spokesman for the 15th US Marine Expeditionary Unit in the southern city of Nassiriya, said nine other people in the minivan were wounded in the incident.
"Our Marines took action to protect themselves against what they thought was a suicide bomber," Delarosa told Reuters correspondent Adrian Croft in Nassiriya, adding that the driver had ignored repeated warnings to stop.
"Currently, we are providing the best available medical assistance to those injured," he said, adding that no weapons had been found in the vehicle. "It was a regrettable mistake."
