The latest killings brought tension to boiling point in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, a conservative town where people loyal to former president Saddam Hussein are flexing their muscle in the wake of his fall from power.
There were differing accounts of the shooting, just as there were on Monday, when 13 Iraqis were killed by US troops in a similar incident.
US Central Command said soldiers opened fire when a convoy was shot at, but witnesses insisted the Americans were not attacked.
“This was a peaceful demonstration. Religious leaders told us not to be armed. There was no exchange of fire,” said one witness, Safa Rusli. “I saw three people shot dead before my own eyes.”
At Fallujah general hospital, Dr Dia Jumalli said three people had been killed and another two, in a critical condition, had been evacuated to a larger hospital in the city of Ramadi. Around 10 people were wounded.
He said the dead were all distant relatives — Saleh, Ahmed and Ghanem Jumayli, aged 33, 45 and 23 respectively.
Witnesses said some 4,000 people were protesting the US presence in the town, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, in a demonstration called by local religious leaders.
They said US soldiers in jeeps and armoured vehicles fired in the air after children in the crowd started pelting them with shoes and stones. Other troops on a nearby rooftop then opened fire, they said.
“Iraqi civilians throwing rocks and firing weapons attacked a convoy. The convoy returned fire and the crowd was dispersed by the arrival of coalition helicopters,” the US Central Command said in a statement.
It said the number of casualties was unknown and that youths in the town had fired weapons in a separate incident on Tuesday night.
“The youths were said to be demonstrating to withdraw US forces from the school in town,” adding it was unclear whether US troops had fired back.
Sheikh Waga Ali al-Mohammadi, described by residents as the top local religious leader, said he and other officials had met US commanders after the shooting and asked them to pull back to the city’s edge.
“We told the Americans to withdraw at least to the outskirts because they are a bad influence on our people,” he said.
“Fallujah is known as a centre of Islam. We care about religion, we care about our honour and our land. We told them things will get worse and worse.”
Sheikh Waga said residents became angry after seeing US soldiers staring at local women with binoculars. Another official said religious hardliners were trying to mobilize people fir an uprising against US troops.
An imam who also said he attended the meeting, Abdel Hamid Jadu, said: “We know it will be difficult to contain the people if it continues.” One group of protesters held up a sign which read: “Sooner or later, US killers, we will kick you out.”
The uncertainty pointed up the uncharted territory for the US forces occupying Iraq, where initial political meetings have made little headway towards creating a new government promised by Washington.
Religious leaders across the country have re-established themselves as potent political force after Saddam Hussein’s fall as the nation’s mix of religious, ethnic and tribal groups jockey for power in a future government.
US helicopters circled the city for hours after the shooting and troops kept up a heavy presence in the streets. The funeral was held within hours of the deaths. Two bodies were carried through the streets, followed by around 200 mourners.—AFP