BAGHDAD, June 30: US soldiers may have raped an Iraqi woman and murdered her and three members of her family, including a child, military officials said on Friday.

Confirming another major investigation into alleged killing and abuse of Iraqi civilians by three US troops, one officer said the incident in March just south of Baghdad had initially been blamed on guerillas active in the area.

The probe is the latest in a series in recent weeks since the revelation of investigations into the killings of 24 people at Haditha in November. Commanders are cracking down on rogue soldiers in a bid to regain the trust of ordinary Iraqis and of their new government after three years of growing resentment.

Officers said a criminal probe was launched on June 24 into whether soldiers killed four people in their home at Mahmudiya on March 12. Police in the district said they could not recall a case meeting the description given by the US military.

Major General James Thurman, the commander of the Baghdad area, ordered the army’s Criminal Investigation Command to mount the full investigation within a day of two soldiers coming forward, the military said in its brief initial statement.

“We’re not going to leave any stone unturned,” US military spokesman Major Todd Breasseale said in Baghdad.

In Washington, an army official said the suspicion was that two soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment had raped a young woman and then one of them had killed her and three of her family, among them a child. One other soldier was being investigated.

The suspected killer had been discharged from the army and was in the United States. Officials have said in similar cases that discharged soldiers can be recalled to face court martial.

Last week, 12 American troops were charged with murder in two separate cases of killing civilians and another was charged with voluntary manslaughter in a third. Charges are expected to be brought soon in the Haditha case.

CRACKDOWN: With the newly formed Iraqi government publicly calling for US troops to be held accountable, the military says it will ensure troops avoid killing civilians in all circumstances.