US patrol kills three Iraqis in market ‘mistake’

AN American patrol opened fire on a group of people in Baghdad’s gun market yesterday killing three.

The soldiers apparently mistook the gunfire of customers testing weapons for an attack.

Four people were also wounded in the shooting, hospital and police officials said. The dead included an 11-year-old boy. In Iraq, it is legal for a family to own one gun for self-defence. That weapon is usually an AK-47 assault rifle.