BAQUBA, Nov 21: Five members of an Iraqi family, three of them children, were shot dead on Monday when US forces opened fire on their car outside a military base northeast of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. Three other family members were wounded in the incident which took place near Baquba at around 0630am (0330 GMT) as they were returning from a funeral, the sources said.

Ahmed Kamel al-Sawamara, a 22-year-old student who was driving the car but escaped serious injury, said that he suddenly saw United States military vehicles just ahead of him.

“The soldiers started shooting at us from all over. I slowed down and pulled off the road, but they continued firing,” he told reporters.—AFP