US war plane mistake carries 14 lives

The United States military acknowledged dropping a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house outside the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, killing five people. But the man who owned the house said the bomb killed 14 people including seven children. The strike in the town of Aitha, 30 miles south of Mosul, came hours before a senior U.S. Embassy official in Iraq met with leading members of the &to= english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/397/13719_Iraq.html ' target=_blank>Sunni Arab community in efforts to persuade them to participate in Jan. 30 elections, which they have threatened to boycott. Violence also continued, with at least eight Iraqis killed. American officials repeatedly have insisted the vote go ahead, but it is an extremely delicate time, with Iraq's government perceived by many as closely tied to the &to= english.pravda.ru/war/2003/03/24/44936.html ' target=_blank>U.S.-led coalition, informs ABC News. Late Saturday, a U.S. military statement said an F-16 jet dropped a 500-pound GPS-guided bomb on a house that was meant to be searched during an operation to capture "an anti-Iraqi force cell leader." According to the Independent News, fourteen Iraqis were reported killed and five injured early yesterday morning after an &to= english.pravda.ru/main/2002/05/27/29359.html ' target=_blank>American war plane obliterated a family house in the north of the country. The military said it was a mistake. The American authorities promised a full investigation after admitting that a 500lb bomb had been unleashed on entirely the wrong target, south-east of &to= english.pravda.ru/war/2003/04/04/45605.html ' target=_blank>Mosul. Television footage had earlier shown a house in the village of Aitha reduced to rubble, while locals inspected the damage. Nearby there were rows of freshly dug graves where local people said the dead were buried. They reported that American military vehicles had surrounded part of the settlement overnight, shortly before the strike in the early hours of the morning. An official US statement said an F-16 jet dropped a satellite-guided bomb on a house that was meant to be searched: "The intended target was another location nearby."

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