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US troops face Iraq death charges |
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Tuesday, 20 June 2006Three US soldiers have been charged over the deaths of three male Iraqi prisoners, the US military has said.
The detainees were allegedly killed in an operation near the Thar Thar Canal near Tikrit in northern Iraq on 9 May.
The charges against the three soldiers include murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and obstructing justice.
US troops in Iraq have faced several accusations of unlawfully killing civilians and abusing detainees, prompting inquiries into their conduct.
The US military recently began investigating the deaths of 24 unarmed civilians in the town of Haditha last year in an attack blamed on US marines.
The US military appears to have acted quickly to investigate this latest allegation of misconduct, following the accusation that it did not move fast enough to probe the Haditha incident.
But the news that elite American troops are being charged with murder is far from helpful for the US military, says the BBC's Adam Brookes, in Washington.
Confined
The three soldiers charged on Monday are from the 101st Airborne Division.
Their unit commander had ordered an inquiry on the day the alleged murders took place, the US military said.
The US military gave little other information about the events leading to the charges.
On 9 May some troops from the 101st Airborne were taking part in a raid on an old chemical complex, hunting for insurgents active in Salahuddin province, our correspondent says.
A statement by the military said the inquiry had been ordered after soldiers became suspicious about the circumstances in which the detainees had died.
The military said a criminal investigation had been started on 17 May and was "ongoing".
The accused soldiers are currently said to be in "pre-trial confinement".
They must await the outcome of an Article 32 hearing - the military equivalent of a grand jury - before finding out whether they will face a court martial.
BBC News
June 19, 2006 |
Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Iraq
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