U.S. soldiers man a checkpoint in Mosul

MOSUL, April 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Four Iraqis were killed and several others wounded Wednesday, April 16, by U.S. fire near a government building in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the second such attack in less than 48 hours, Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported.

U.S. forces stationed near a government building opened fire on Iraqi police officers attempting to storm into an adjacent bank to disperse looters as well as crowds gathering outside, the channel's correspondent on the ground said.

Fearing an attack, the American soldiers initiated the shooting that left four Iraqi people killed and others, including four police officers, injured, he added.

Riyadh Hamdi official at the city's Al-Zahrawi hospital said "four bodies have just been brought in."

A correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) saw two bodies arrive and two more in the morgue, while doctor Said Altah said eight people were wounded.

U.S. Admits Killing Civilians in Mosul 

The U.S. army confirmed Wednesday killing several Iraqi demonstrators in Mosul Tuesday, April 15.

"Fire was indeed delivered from coalition forces, it was lethal fire and some Iraqis were killed as a result, we think the number is in the order of seven and we think there were some wounded as well," admitted Brigadier General Vincent Brooks at U.S. Central Command's war base.

Hospital sources in Mosul said the death toll in Tuesday's shootings had risen to 15 with 28 wounded.

Najim al-Azzawi, deputy head of Al-Zahrawi hospital, confirmed those brought to the hospital were killed or wounded by machine gun fire, while among the wounded four or five were in serious condition.

At Centcom on Tuesday Navy Commander Charles Owens had insisted that U.S. forces "did not shoot into a crowd."