Breaking: Iraqi soldiers fighting ISIS killed in US airstrike – Iraq MP (3 updates, w/video)

A US airstrike in Iraq.

Update 1: AP reports:

Iraq says coalition air strike kills or wounds 10 soldiers

Update 2: The Wall Street Journal reports:

BAGHDAD—An airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State hit an Iraqi army unit near Fallujah on Friday, killing or injuring 10 Iraqi troops, Iraq’s Defense Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry called the bombing errant and said it occurred in Nuaimiya, near the Islamic State-held city, hitting soldiers from the army’s 55th Brigade around noon.

Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the coalition in Iraq, said the ministry’s report of a strike on Iraqi forces was likely accurate, though he couldn’t provide details on the type of aircraft or munitions involved.

The confusing nature of a combat environment could have contributed to the incident, he added.

“It was a dynamic strike. It was a troops-in-contact situation,” he said, meaning the U.S. aircraft were likely scrambled to support Iraqi forces who were already engaged in a fight with Islamic State.

Hakim al-Zamili, a parliamentarian and the head of Iraq’s security and defense committee, demanded an immediate investigation by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi into the matter.

“We need to make sure we’re not sacrificing our soldiers,” he said.

Mr. Abadi’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. […]

Update 3:

Original post below.

RT reports:

More than 30 Iraqi soldiers have been killed and 20 more injured in an airstrike carried out by the US military, an Iraqi official told RIA Novosti.

“30 Iraqi servicemen from the 55th brigade of the Iraqi Army have been killed and 20 injured after an airstrike carried out by US aviation in the town of Al-Naimiya, Fallujah province ,” Hakim al-Zamili, the head of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, said in a statement cited by Sputnik. Al-Zamili said he called upon the Iraqi Prime Minister “to carry out an immediate investigation into the airstrike on the 55th brigade that earlier achieved success in battling” Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said four Western coalition warplanes had been spotted over the Deir az-Zor area in Syria on December 6, when a Syrian Army camp came under attack. An airstrike on a field camp on 168th Brigade of 7th Division of the Syrian Army left four servicemen dead and 12 injured. It also destroyed three APCs and four vehicles bearing 12.7mm heavy machine guns. […]

Sputnik International’s update on this story:

Baghdad will go to court over a US airstrike that killed over 20 Iraqi soldiers, head of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee Hakim Zamili told Sputnik on Friday.

“This is very serious and I have asked the prime minister to launch an urgent investigation… We will go to court over this crime, there will be a hearing.”

According to the lawmaker, over 20 soldiers were killed and over 30 sustained injuries. “The number of victims may increase, many were seriously injured and have not yet been taken to hospitals.”

Zamili’s statement acquired by Sputnik on Friday claimed a US airstrike west of Baghdad killed 30 Iraqi soldiers and injured 20 more.

It read that the killed and injured soldiers were from the Iraqi Army’s 55th Brigade in the city of al-Naimiya in the province of al-Fallujah.

US Defense Department spokesman Maj. Roger Cabiness disputed the statement as untrue in comments made to Sputnik.

SUPPORT OFFGUARDIAN

If you enjoy OffG's content, please help us make our monthly fund-raising goal and keep the site alive.

For other ways to donate, including direct-transfer bank details click HERE.