US, Iraqi Troops Kill Civilians in Fallujah Raid

Another indication that the US War in Iraq is not over: they are still killing civilians. A joint US and Iraqi military raid against a neighborhood on the outskirts of Fallujah left at least eight people dead, including a number of civilians, and wounded an unknown number of others.

According to local officials a soldier (it was not clear if it was an Iraqi or US soldier) threw a hand grenade into the yard of a sleeping family, killing a 70 year old man and four of his sons. Since post-invasion Iraq has near constant blackouts most Iraqis sleep outdoors in the summer to escape the heat.

Provincial officials complained that neither the Americans, nor the Iraqi security forces involved in the attack informed them of the planned attack, and it seems there was little indication of any coordination. The Iraqi forces were said to have been part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office, a security force which has often come under fire for acting as a de facto private militia to Maliki.

The attack is just the latest in a growing number of combat missions the US troops have taken part in since the Obama Administration announced its fake end to the Iraq War earlier this month and claimed that all combat was over. It should be pointed out that in this case there doesn’t appear to have been any actual combat but just summary killings.

Meanwhile, further in the north of the war-torn nation, nine Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bombing in Mosul. They were said to be off-duty at the time of the attack.