BAGHDAD, Feb 4: American troops ‘accidentally’ killed nine Iraqi civilians while hunting down Al Qaeda militants, the US military admitted on Monday, the latest in a series of mistakes in which innocent Iraqis have died.

The deaths south of Baghdad on Saturday, which Iraqi police said were caused by a helicopter air strike, were announced as Iraq said it would soon begin talks with US officials on an agreement covering the role of US forces after a UN Security Council mandate expires at the end of 2008.

The US embassy in Iraq said the talks on the long-term bilateral agreement would not determine future US troop numbers.

“Future force levels and adjustments are not something that will be discussed at these talks,” an embassy spokeswoman told reporters. Discussions would start this month. A child was among those killed in the strike near Iskandariya, 40km south of Baghdad, the US military said. Three civilians, including two more children, were wounded.

“We offer our condolences to the families of those who were killed in the incident and we mourn the loss of innocent civilian life,” it said in a statement.

The military gave no further details but Iraqi police at the scene said US helicopters had fired on a checkpoint manned by a neighbourhood police patrol after a US convoy was attacked.

Women were among the victims, police said.

The neighbourhood units, formed by mainly Arab tribal sheikhs, have been credited with contributing to sharp falls in violence. Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 per cent since 30,000 extra US troops were deployed by last June.

The US military said commanders near Iskandariya met a local tribal sheikh after the incident. The wounded had been taken to US hospitals for treatment, it said.

An Iraqi government spokesman said that talks with US officials would begin in the third week of February on a pact that would lay the basis for long-term strategic ties between Washington and Baghdad.

US officials have said the talks will set out the framework for matters such as whether US soldiers can be put on trial by host governments.

The issue of immunity for private security contractors working for American government departments is also expected to be discussed.

Both sides have said the pact should be concluded by July.

“This agreement will bring economic, security, political and diplomatic benefits to Iraq and set up a sympathetic relationship with the American people,” the spokesman said.—Reuters