US military confirms killing civilians, says driver missed signals for him to stop as they opened fire randomly.


BAGHDAD, March 10, 2007 - US forces opened fire on an unarmed Iraqi family's car and killed a father and his two young daughters, the man's wife said on Saturday.

A statement from the US military confirmed that three Iraqis were killed and three more wounded in Friday's shooting in east Baghdad, after the car's driver ignored or missed signals for him to stop.

"They just opened fire randomly on us," said Akhlas Abduljabbar, a Sunni housewife from Zafaraniyah, south of Baghdad, whose family was travelling through the war-torn city.

"They killed my husband and two daughters and my three-year-old boy was wounded in the head. The Americans' translator told me 'Flee, don't stay, they're going to kill you'," she added.

Abduljabbar identified her dead husband as Rifat Abduljabbar and the daughters as Fatima, 11, and Hafsat, 12.

She said that she had heard that some Iraqi bystanders were also hurt.

A statement from the US military said: "The vehicle failed to respond to paratroopers' warning signals as it approached their patrol in the Adhamiyah security district.

"The paratroopers followed established protocol for escalation of force but the vehicle continued to advance toward them forcing them to disable it with small arms fire," it added.

"Three Iraqis were wounded and three were killed in this incident. The wounded were provided immediate medical assistance. Iraqi police and national police secured the area and Iraqi police evacuated the wounded.

"The incident is under investigation," it concluded.