Iraqi official: Civilian deaths a cost of war

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has complained loudly to US military officials when Shi'ite civilians have been killed in American attacks against Mahdi Army militants, and tensions have been high over recent shootings of Iraqi civilians by private security contractors protecting US-government-funded work.

Yesterday, Dabbagh said the area targeted by American forces was a known base for insurgents, whom he accused of hiding among civilians.

"The issue of 15 civilian victims is a sorrowful matter, but confronting Al Qaeda is an essential and vital issue," he said in a telephone interview. "They shouldn't have any place among the civilians."

"We are in a war against those diabolical and wicked groups; therefore during military operations there might be innocents killed," he added. "The victims are an unavoidable matter in fighting Al Qaeda."

The assault targeting senior Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders near Lake Tharthar, about 50 miles northwest of the capital, inflicted one of the heaviest civilian death tolls in the offensive against the terror network in recent months. The military said 19 suspected insurgents, six women, and nine children died, and two suspected insurgents, one woman, and three children were wounded.

Rear Admiral Greg Smith, a US military spokesman, said the military would examine surveillance footage and interview troops to confirm the sequence of events. "We certainly will do a very thorough investigation to ensure the force used was appropriate," he said.

"We do what we can to ensure that we minimize to the greatest extent possible the loss of life of civilians," Smith said. "But in instances where your forces are being fired upon, you're going to use all necessary means to reduce that threat."

He accused Al Qaeda fighters of using their relatives and other innocent people to shield themselves.

The military said ground troops backed by attack aircraft acted on intelligence reports about an Al Qaeda meeting at an initial location near the man-made lake, which straddles the volatile Sunni Anbar and Salahuddin provinces. Four insurgents were killed in that strike, but several suspects fled to another location, the military said.