Civilian deaths bring worry of Sunni backlash

[unhappycamper]

Civilian deaths bring worry of Sunni backlash
By Kim Gamel - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 5, 2008 5:49:46 EST

BAGHDAD — The deaths of nine civilians, including a child, in a U.S. airstrike south of Baghdad have raised fresh concerns about the military’s ability to distinguish friend from foe in a campaign to uproot insurgents from Sunni areas on the capital’s doorstep.

Witnesses and Iraqi police said helicopters strafed a house Saturday after confusing U.S.-allied Sunni fighters for extremists in the deadliest case of mistaken identity since November. The U.S. military on Monday confirmed the civilian deaths, but gave few other details of the Army gunship attack.

The bloodshed also points to the wider complications for U.S.-led offensives against insurgents in populated areas: As the firepower increases so do the risks of claiming innocent lives. And each such death potentially frays the crucial alliances between the Pentagon and new Sunni allies, widely known as Awakening Councils.

It was one of these groups that apparently was caught in the clash near Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad — an area where U.S.-led forces stepped up an air and ground assault last month against al-Qaida in Iraq footholds.

A farmer who lives near the site said the Americans retaliated after a mortar attack against a U.S. convoy as it passed a checkpoint manned by Awakening Council fighters.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_civilians_080204/