U.S.-led forces mistakenly bomb house near Mosul
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least five people were killed when a coalition F-16 mistakenly bombed a house south of Mosul, Iraq, the U.S. military said Saturday.
U.S.-led multinational forces were searching for an insurgent cell leader and hit the house with a 500-pound bomb, the military said in a statement.
The correct target was nearby, the military said.
Witnesses told CNN that U.S. ground forces first raided the house in the village of A'ytya. The witnesses reported hearing screams coming from the vicinity of the house, and then the forces left. Minutes later, the house exploded, the witnesses said.
Fourteen people lived in the house, neighbors said.
"Multi-National Force-Iraq deeply regrets the loss of possibly innocent lives," the statement said.
Mosul has been a site of repeated violence in recent weeks. When the U.S. military launched an offensive in Falluja in November, there was concern that insurgents had fled to Mosul and would launch attacks from there.
Four officials abducted
Friday night, gunmen abducted four public officials from Salah Ad Din province, according to a 1st Infantry Division spokesman.
The public officials were in two vehicles, coming from the southern city of Najaf, when gunmen attempted to stop them, Maj. Neal O'Brien said.
One of the cars escaped.
Only three officials have been identified. They are Khataan Hamada, Salah Ad Din Provincial Council chairman; Ali Ghalib, assistant governor for technical affairs; and Amar Aaiash, dean of the Tikrit University College of Law.
The abductions are the latest in a recent string of violence.
Attacks have claimed the lives of Baghdad's provincial governor; the security chief for Iraq's Independent Election Commission in Diyala province; the deputy director for the Iraqi Islamic Party in Mosul; along with U.S. soldiers and scores of Iraqi police and civilians.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered a review of the security situation in Iraq amid concerns over the elections scheduled for January 30.
Iraqi voters are expected to choose a 275-member transitional national assembly. That body will put together a permanent constitution that will go before voters in a referendum. If approved, the plan calls for elections for a permanent government.
Other developments
A suicide car bomber killed two Iraqi police officers and two civilians Sunday at a checkpoint 34 miles (55 kilometers) south of Baghdad in al-Yusufiyah, police said. The blast wounded 13 others, including an unknown number of police.An explosion Sunday at an ammunition storage area killed seven Ukrainian soldiers and a Kazakh soldier, said Multi-National Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Artur Domanski. Seven Ukrainians and four Kazaks were wounded in the blast. The incident, believed to be an accident, is under investigation. An explosives disposal team was detonating ordnance near the town of al-Suwaira, about 31 miles (51 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Domanski said. Nearly 1,600 Ukrainian soldiers and 30 Kazakhs are serving in Iraq. (Full story) Visiting relatives found the beheaded bodies of a Christian married couple in their home, Baghdad police said Sunday. Police identified the victims -- who were found Friday -- as Josef Touma and his wife. Police said it incident is under investigation.The U.S. military said on Saturday that a kidnapped Iraqi police officer killed one of his four abductors and escaped near the northern city of Kirkuk. Later, the policeman's three other kidnappers were arrested at Azadi hospital, where they had traveled for treatment, according to a U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division statement.About 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Kirkuk, in Riyadh, a city councilman and another Iraqi were kidnapped Saturday, the U.S. military said in a statement. The victims were thrown into the trunk of a car after becoming involved in a vehicle accident, the statement said.A U.S. Army sergeant was convicted of assault in a case involving two Iraqi detainees forced to jump off a bridge in Samarra. Sgt. 1st Class Tracy E. Perkins was found guilty Friday. He was was sentenced to six months in military prison, but will not be discharged, The Associated Press reported. (Full story) Two Iraqi police officers and three civilians were shot and killed Saturday at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman. Witnesses blamed U.S. soldiers for the deaths, saying the troops indiscriminately fired into the crowd after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near the al-Doura checkpoint, about 6 miles (10km) south of Baghdad. Rahman could not independently confirm the witnesses' account. The U.S. military had no information about the incident, saying they had not received any reports of convoys hit by roadside bombs in the al-Doura area. U.S. soldiers Saturday morning discovered the bodies of three men near Samarra, blindfolded with hands bound. One of the bodies was identified as a Baghdad police officer, according to a U.S. military news release. All three sustained several gunshot wounds to the face.The Iraqi Council of Ministers on Saturday announced the capture of Izz al-Dine al-Majid, a one-time bodyguard and second cousin to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Al-Majid was picked up during a raid in Falluja in early December, the statement said. He is also a cousin of Ali Hassan al-Majid, the Iraqi general known as "Chemical Ali," who is in U.S. custody. CNN's Cal Perry contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
