US troops kill civilians in Iraq attacks

US troops mistakenly killed two Iraqi policemen and two bystanders near a checkpoint just hours after an American warplane exacted a heavy civilian toll when it bombed the wrong house, Iraqi officials said on Sunday.

Residents said 14 people, including children, were killed in a strike in the northern village of Aaytha, and showed 14 freshly dug-graves. The military, making a rare admission of error, said five people died when a 500-pound bomb flattened the house.

Shortly afterwards, a US military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb blast near a police checkpoint south of Baghdad. Troops escorting the vehicles struck back but at the wrong target, Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.

Two police officers and two civilians were killed. He said a fifth Iraqi suffered a heart attack and died at the scene. —Reuters