AN Iraqi soldier has shot dead two US soldiers in the northern city of Mosul before being shot dead himself, but US and Iraqi officials differ on what happened.
Major General Mohammed al-Askari, a spokesman for the Iraqi defence ministry, said the shooting took place during a joint patrol to inspect security procedures in Mosul, which the US military considers the last urban al-Qaeda bastion in Iraq.
"There was an altercation, and up until now we don't know the reason of the altercation between the soldiers," Maj-Gen Askari said.
"When they stopped in the street the Iraqi soldier opened fire."
Maj-Gen Askari identified the Iraqi soldier as Barazan Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadidi, 21, but did not provide any further information about him.
An official in Iraq's interior ministry said "a US soldier slapped an Iraqi soldier during the patrol and he opened fire in response".
But Major General Mark Hertling, the commander of US-led forces in northern Iraq, said the shooting occurred in the courtyard of an Iraqi army base where the soldiers were waiting for a meeting to end.
"There was no argument," he said. "There was no spitting or cursing between the individuals. In fact there was not even a conversation between the Iraqi soldier who was shooting and the soldiers who were shot."
Maj-Gen Hertling said the shooter killed one US soldier immediately and shot another in the stomach. The second soldier later died of his wounds, and six other US soldiers were wounded.
He said Iraqi security officials apologised after the shooting and vowed to help in a joint investigation.
"The Iraqi division commander was crying and telling me how sorry he was that this incident could happen within his division," Maj-Gen Hertling said.
He said he had no idea why the Iraqi soldier opened fire, and insisted that relations were good between US and Iraqi forces in the city.
"There never was any tension. We are combined very closely with the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police in Mosul," Maj-Gen Hertling said. "This was an incident of an individual committing a crime."
A similar incident took place in Mosul in January of this year, when an Iraqi soldier opened fire on American troops during the erection of a combat outpost in the city, killing two US soldiers, according to Maj-Gen Askari.
source
news.com.au
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