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Iraq launches probe in killing 9 soldiers in coalition friendly fire

Xinhua, December 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi on Saturday said the Iraqi authority launched a probe a day after the killing of nine Iraqi soldiers mistakenly, when U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck their positions near the Islamic State-held city of Fallujah.

"The defense ministry has formed a committee to investigate the bombardment by international coalition aircraft on the army forces while they were advancing near the city of Fallujah, Obeidi told a news conference.

"The international warplanes were providing support to the Iraqi ground forces because the Iraqi army helicopters were not able to fly due to the bad weather," Obeidi said.

The incident occurred on Friday when Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, were carrying out an operation on Islamic State (IS) positions near Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad

Obeidi also said that "Iraqi forces are close to free Ramadi," the capital of Anbar province, adding that IS group seized 40 percent of Iraq's largest province of Anbar, but so far, the Iraqi forces and allied Hashd Shaabi freed 23 percent and that only 17 percent of the provincial territories have left.

Obeidi pledged that "during the next days, the Iraqi forces will free the IS-held territories in the provinces of Anbar, Salahudin and Nineveh."

Obeidi's comments about the battles in Anbar came as the security forces and Hashd Shaabi units have recently made significant advance in Ta'mim district in southern Ramadi and in several areas on the edges of the city as part of their operations to flush out IS militants from Ramadi.

According to Obeidi, the defense data shows that 265 army officers were killed and 11,077 others were wounded, while 2,384 soldiers were killed and 10,123 others wounded in the battles against IS since June 2104.

Later in the day, a statement from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that Abadi received a phone call from the U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, during which Carter expressed condolences for the loss of Iraqi soldiers who were killed mistakenly, asserting his regret for the incident despite highest degrees of precautions to avoid such incidents.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10 last year, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS. Endit