The Iraqi military command has opened an investigation into the "friendly fire" of the US-led international coalition in an "uncoordinated" air raid in the predominantly Sunni western province of Anbar which would have caused, according to unofficial sources, at least 7 deaths and 19 wounded among the security forces of the Arab country. Through a statement, the command explains that the international coalition has hit an "armed group" in the locality of al Baghdadi, in the west of the province. The raid started after receiving information from Iraqi intelligence "on the presence of a terrorist leader, Karim al Samarmad, in a house in Baghdadi where a meeting was underway to prepare an attack", reads the note. Iraqi Army forces, with coalition air cover, went to the scene to gather information. At that juncture, "a group of armed men" was detected who were "hit by the Coalition aircraft without any coordination with the forces in charge", the statement continues. According to security sources consulted by "Agenzia Nova", the victims are not terrorists but police officers and local tribal fighters framed in the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), the coalition of Iraqi paramilitary militias allied to the Baghdad government. "A US helicopter bombed a column of civilian vehicles and security forces carrying the director of the district of al Baghdadi (Anbar village 170 kilometers northwest of Baghdad), Sharhbail al Obeidi, and the director of the local police , Colonel Salam al Obeidi, towards the residence of the chieftain Sheikh Maidi al Obeidi in Alnahia ”, explained the sources.
