Four dead in 'Fallujah Brigade' shelling

Four people were killed in shelling at a checkpoint of the Fallujah Brigade, which had been patrolling the city since April, security and hospital officials said.

Captain Majid Ahmad Salim, the Fallujah Brigade’s commander in the southern part of the city, said the fire came from U.S. tanks outside the city. The U.S. military said they had no immediate information on the attack.

Salim and other Iraqi officers said it was the first such incident between U.S. troops and members of the Fallujah Brigade, made up in part of loyalists to former president Saddam Hussein and insurgents who fought U.S. troops in the city in April.

“We were surprised with two American tanks opening fire at us,” Salim said. He added that two of the brigade’s members were killed and two were wounded.

Two civilians were also killed and four wounded in the shelling, Dr. Adel Khamees of the Fallujah General Hospital said.

Coalition officials believe Fallujah has become a safe-haven for insurgents and Islamic extremists since U.S. Marines abandoned their three-week siege of the city in late April and handed over security to the Fallujah Brigade.

U.S. forces have repeatedly carried out airstrikes in Fallujah since Marines ended the siege aimed at rooting out Sunni Muslim insurgents, but have touted the creation of the brigade as a potential model for other cities.

On Wednesday, a US airstrike on an alleged militant safehouse killed 17 people, including three children.