U.S. troops kill three sleeping Iraqi guards as they storm state-run flour mill

 

Ali Shatab

 

Azzaman, December 18, 2008

 

U.S. troops have killed three Iraqis guarding a state-run flour mill, the trade ministry said.

 

The killing of the three guards, assigned to protect the mill, has fuelled further anger at the U.S. occupation troops in the country.

 

Trade Minister Abdulfalah al-Soodani has asked the troops for a formal apology and compensation.

 

“The minister (Soodani) denounces and condemns the incident which has lead to the killing of three guards while they were asleep,” the statement said. 

 

“This behavior is a dangerous precedent in dealing with government ministries and buildings,” Soodani was quoted as saying.

 

The statement said U.S. troops began shooting indiscriminately as they entered the mill.

 

“They (the troops) burned part of the mill’s archives, confiscated computers and damaged some of the factory’s 250 trucks,” the statement said.

 

It said that an American military officer visited the mill later saying the troops were sorry and that they entered the mill by mistake.