The killing of Iraqi civilians has long put a strain on relations between Baghdad and Washington, who this week began talks on future relations and the presence of U.S. troops after the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers accidentally shot and killed a child on Wednesday in Iraq's Diyala province, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
The killing of Iraqi civilians has long put a strain on relations between Baghdad and Washington, who this week began talks on future relations and the presence of U.S. troops after the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year.
The military said soldiers were operating in an area where roadside bombs had been found recently in ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala, one of four northern provinces where U.S. and Iraqi have launched a series of operations this year.
The soldiers fired a warning shot into a sand berm after they found a "suspicious woman who appeared to be signaling to someone."
!ADVERTISEMENT!The military said a young girl was found on the other side of the berm suffering from a gunshot wound. Soldiers treated the girl and called for emergency help but she died on the way to a military hospital.
They said the incident was under investigation but no other details about the girl or the exact location were available.
"Coalition forces take the loss of any innocent civilian life seriously and the incident will be thoroughly investigated," U.S. military spokesman Major Dan Meyers said in a statement.
Critics say U.S. forces often fire on suspected militants without taking reasonable care to find out who else is in the area. The U.S. military says militants often hide among civilians and deliberately use them as shields.
Last month, a child was among nine civilians accidentally killed in a U.S. military strike south of Baghdad.
(Reporting by Paul Tait)
