US airstrike kills eight family members in Iraq

TIKRIT (AFP) - Eight family members, including three women, were killed in a US airstrike near executed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Friday, sparking anti-America demonstrations.

The US military confirmed aerial strike against a house, but said the target was an Al-Qaeda operative and not the women inside. It placed the death toll at seven, one fewer than the number given by local authorities.

Large crowds protested against the US raid after the main weekly Muslim prayers in the city, capital of Salaheddin province.

“America is the enemy of Allah,” protesters chanted.

Abdul Kareem, a close relative of the victims whose home is in the same neighbourhood, said he saw US troops surround the house in the early hours. “Then helicopters targeted it,” he said.

A doctor at Tikrit General Hospital, Imad al-Juburi, said the bodies of eight people were brought in and the victims appeared to have died of injuries consistent with an airstrike.