Ishaqi (also known as "Al Ishaqi") ( ar, ناحية الإسحاقي) is a small town in the
Balad District of the
Saladin Governorate
The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with t ...
of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, about 60 miles (96 km) north of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
.
War crimes
1st 2006 incident
In March 2006 Iraqi police reported that American troops had executed 11 people in Ishaqi after capturing them in a raid, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old baby. New footage of the event's aftermath was released in June 2006, sparking an investigation of the event. The US forces were later cleared of wrongdoing by a US military probe, sparking protests from the Iraqi government, who vowed to continue their own investigation.
2nd 2006 incident
In December 2006 the US military conducted an air raid on Ishaqi. U.S.-led coalition forces said they were looking through several buildings near
Lake Tharthar
Lake Tharthar (also Therthar), and known in Iraq as Buhayrat ath-Tharthar ( ar, بحيرة الثرثار), is an artificial lake opened in 1956, situated 100 kilometers (62 mi) northwest of Baghdad between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers.
H ...
in the
province of Salahuddin
The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with t ...
when
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
-linked militants launched an attack. The U.S. military then said coalition troops returned fire, killing two of the insurgents. As the firefight continued, troops called in the air strikes. The U.S. military said 20 Al-Qaeda insurgents, including two women, were killed in the raid.
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Local officials in Jalameda claimed there were actually 17 victims and that they included five men, six women, and five children. Locals of the area claiming to be relatives showed the children's bodies to journalists.[{{Cite web , url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20902889-23109,00.html , title=Villagers bury US 'massacre' victims {{! The Australian , access-date=2006-12-10 , archive-date=2016-03-22 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322053012/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nocookies , url-status=dead ] Al Jazeera claimed to have exclusive footage that confirms children were among the victims of the US air raid.[Al Jazeera English – News – Photos Confirm Us Raid Child Deaths]
/ref>
Iraqi reaction included mourners firing into the air overnight as they buried the victims of the raid. Hundreds of chanting residents of Jalameda marched through Ishaqi overnight firing shots and carrying banners that read: "The people of Ishaqi condemn the mass killing by the occupation forces".Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
political bloc in parliament, said, "We ask the Americans to be merciful. They kill civilians alleging they are terrorists. Ishaqi is a catastrophe."
The Agence France Presse news agency passed its own photographs of the dead children to Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a US military spokesman, asking for an explanation on the latest allegations. Garver replied, "We've checked with the troops who conducted this operation - there were no children found among the terrorists killed." Garver continued, "I see nothing in the photos that indicates those children were in the houses that our forces received fire from and subsequently destroyed with the air strike."
References
See also
* Haditha
Populated places in Saladin Governorate