IRAQ:The US military said it killed 11 people in a helicopter attack on a group of men seen planting a roadside bomb north of Baghdad yesterday, but police and residents said the dead were farmers, women and children.
The US military acknowledged that six of those killed were civilians and said it regretted their deaths, but it blamed militants for using civilians as a shield.
The air strike was the third resulting in civilian deaths in two weeks and comes as the US military's reliance on air power to target militants is under increased scrutiny from the Iraqi government and the UN mission in Iraq.
UN officials have expressed concern at the number of civilians killed in air strikes and said more care must be taken in military operations to protect them.
The Iraqi government has protested against a weekend raid by US forces in the Shia stronghold of Sadr City, in which US troops said they killed 49 gunmen. Police put the toll at 13 and said they were all civilians, including two toddlers.