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US soldiers kill Iraqi demonstrators <br><br>
Tuesday 13 January 2004 10:14 AM GMT <br><br>
<br>
<b>At least three Iraqi protesters have been shot dead after US
occupation soldiers opened fire on a demonstration in the restive town of
Falluja.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>Medical sources at the town's hospital, west of
Baghdad, said five others were seriously wounded on Tuesday, reported our
correspondent. <br><br>
The demonstrators were protesting against US conduct, including increased
civilian arrests. Demonstrators are particularly angered by the detention
of women, who were accused by soldiers of carrying out resistance attacks
against them.<br><br>
The protest was organised by local clerics. Protesters chanted slogans
condemning US forces and demanded detainees should be freed, reported our
correspondent.<br><br>
But Reuters reported that four civilians were killed, including an
elderly woman, when US soldiers opened fire for coming under rocket
attack. <br><br>
<b>More protestors injured<br><br>
</b>Also on Tuesday, seven Iraqis were wounded when US-led occupation
soldiers clashed with a crowd of jobless protesters in the southern city
of Kut.<br><br>
"Seven wounded were admitted to the emergency room - five protestors
and two female bystanders," said Dr Taha Ali Abdel <br>
Husayn. Six people suffered bullet wounds, including one woman.
<br><br>
About 100 protesters threw grenades towards Ukrainian soldiers stationed
around city hall offices. In return, the soldiers fired warning shots to
disperse the mob, said an AFP correspondent. <br><br>
<b>Civilians killed<br><br>
</b>In the capital, US soldiers opened fire at a car, killing the driver
and a 10-year-old boy, moments after an Army vehicle was hit by a
roadside bomb, said relatives. <br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=2><b>"The Americans have ruined an
innocent family, children and women"</b> <br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=1>Iraqi relative of civilians
killed<br><br>
</font><font size=2>One soldier was killed in the Monday bombing, the US
military said. The shooting is the latest in a growing number of cases of
civilians being shot by US soldiers, as they near the end of their tour
ahead of the first troops rotation next month. <br><br>
A US military official said the shooting "has not been
confirmed" and the Army was investigating. <br><br>
Monday's shooting in Baghdad occurred on Palestine Street, near the Oil
Ministry when the car passed two Humvees on a patrol, said Wijdan Abd
al-Wahhab, whose two sisters, two nephews and a niece were in the car.
<br><br>
As the vehicle passed the convoy, one of the Humvees was hit by the
roadside bomb and the other Humvee opened indiscriminate fire, Abd
al-Wahhab told The Associated Press. <br><br>
She said her nephew Mustafa Jamal Shaikhly, 10, and the family driver,
identified only as Haidar, were killed in the firing. Mustafa's mother,
Istabraq, 30, and aunt Hiyam, 40, were seriously injured. <br><br>
"The Americans have ruined an innocent family, children and
women," a distraught and weeping Wijdan said at the hospital.
"They did not even bother to look back at them after shooting
them," she said. <br><br>
<b>Helicopter downed<br><br>
</b>In related news, a US Apache helicopter crashed west of Baghdad, but
both crew members have survived.<br><br>
The helicopter, which usually carries a crew of two, crashed near
the town of Habbaniya, about 80km west of the capital, said a US military
spokesman. <br><br>
It was probably shot down by resistance fighters, the third such attack
in two weeks. <br><br>
"There is an initial report of enemy fire," said a military
spokesman. <br><br>
The spokesman said both crew members were alive, but he did not know if
they were injured.<br><br>
On 9 January, nine US soldiers were killed when their Blackhawk
helicopter was shot down in Falluja. <br><br>
In November, 17 US soldiers were killed when two Black Hawks collided
near the northern city of Mosul after they came under attack.<br><br>
</font><font size=3><b>Aljazeera + Agencies<br><br>
<br>
</b>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6DC4A971-2202-4652-8615-9C27A1FE86F2.htm" eudora="autourl">http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6DC4A971-2202-4652-8615-9C27A1FE86F2.htm</a>
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