KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) – The son of a journalist at a popular weekly newspaper in northern Iraq was allegedly shot dead by US troops when his car appeared to veer wildly, local police said on Thursday.
American soldiers shot dead Arkan Ali al-Nuaimi, 19, on Wednesday evening as he approached a checkpoint in his car in the oil city of Kirkuk, a police official told AFP.
Iraqi police said the son of Ali Taha al-Nuaimi, editor of the US financed “The Voice of the Villages,” was raked with American bullets when he lost control of his vehicle.
“He lost control near the Bahrain bakery in southern Kirkuk… then they fired on him, killing him instantly,” the police official said, adding that a friend riding next to Nuaimi survived.
A US military spokesman, however, provided a different account of what appeared to be the same incident.
Major John Hall told AFP in an emailed response that a group of dismounted US soldiers was attacked with small arms fire from an approaching purple sedan.
“The soldiers returned fire in self defence, killing a passenger in the car. The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody,” Hall said.
He said one coalition soldier was injured in what was the only shooting incident Wednesday in the Kirkuk area that the US military has on file.
Hall added that incident was still being investigated.
