SEVEN people have been killed when a bus they were travelling in through the Iraqi city of Ramadi came under fire, police and witnesses said. Ramadi police chief Brigadier Jasim al-Dulaimi said US troops yesterday opened fire on the bus, which was riddled with bullets, as it passed the governorate building in the central Hay al-Andalous area. The US military had no immediate comment.
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Reuters Television footage showed the bus peppered with bullet holes. Some of the windows were shattered and others spattered with blood. Flies buzzed around corpses in the vehicle, as men carried away bodies and loaded them into cars. Ramadi, 110km west of Baghdad, is one of the main strongholds of Sunni Muslim insurgents fighting US-led troops and the interim Iraqi government. Earlier this month, the US military launched a fierce assault on nearby Fallujah to try to wipe out guerrillas in the city. US forces have also sealed off some areas of Ramadi.
US marines have killed several Iraqi civilians when a bus drove through a checkpoint in the city of Ramadi, the US military and Iraqi police said. Police said seven died on Saturday, the military said three. "The driver ignored verbal warning and several warning shots," the military said in a statement. "As US marines in the vicinity of the checkpoint attempted to disable the van, the van accelerated toward the marines. The marines then fired upon the vehicle to protect themselves and the integrity of the checkpoint."
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Ramadi police chief Brigadier Jasim al-Dulaimi said seven died in the shooting near the central governorate building where US troops are positioned. Reuters Television footage showed the bus peppered with bullet holes. Some of the windows were shattered and others spattered with blood. Flies buzzed around corpses in the vehicle, as men carried away bodies and loaded them into cars. |