Iraqi Army Units Kill One Soldier and One Civilian

According to US army officials, two Iraqi army units have clashed on Friday near Duluiyah, 40 km north of Baghdad, when a group of insurgents made a surprise attack on an army patrol. One soldier died in the crossfire while several others were severely wounded. Those injured had been taken to a nearby hospital as soon as possible.

The US official statement added that what worsened the situation was the fact that when soldiers tried to remove their fellows from the hospital, they were attacked again by an Iraqi army unit, yet no details of the reasons why the soldiers were supposed to be removed, were advanced.

In order to calm the situation, a US army unit was sent in to separate the Iraqi conflicting parties and reduce the tension. According to a senior US military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, in an interview with Reuters, "Passions can run very high when you have injured comrades".

The incident shows the lack of control and command issues the new Iraqi army is being confronted with. The US army forces stationed in Iraq, trained to maintain control in the area, are also challenged by sectarian and ethnic tensions.