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Iraq outrage over US video killings
Iraq outrage over US video killings
Jul 18, 2025 7:27 PM

  Angry families of civilians killed in a US helicopter attack in Baghdad three years ago, documented in a video leaked on the internet, are seeking justice for their deaths.

  Earlier this week Wikileaks, a whistleblower website that publishes anonymously sourced documents, broadcast a video showing the US military firing at a group of civilians.

  The shooting left 12 people dead, including two employees of the Reuters news agency.

  The Pentagon said it had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the tape, but that two investigations into the incident cleared the air crew of any wrongdoing.

  But victims' relatives have told Al Jazeera they want the military personnel responsible to be taken to court.

  Two young children whose father was killed in the attack could not understand why they were targeted.

  "We were coming back and we saw an injured man. My father said lets take him to hospital. Then I heard only the bullets ... why did they shoot us? Didn't they see we were children?" Sajad Mutashar, who was injured along with his sister, said.

  His uncle, Satar, demanded the pilot be taken to court.

  "Nobody gave the children anything, their rights are gone and the American's didn't even compensate for the destroyed car. I sold it for $500 to spend the money treating them," he told Al Jazeera.

  The US army says it has authorized payments to the family.

  'Monster pilot'

  The family of Saeed Chamgh, one of the Reuters employee killed in the attack, are also demanding justice for his death.

  "The pilot is not human, he's a monster. What did my brother do? What did his children do? Does the pilot accept his kids to be orphans?" Safa Chmagh, Saeed’s brother, told Al Jazeera.

  "Inshallah we won't leave his rights".

  Salwan Saeed, Saeed’s son, added: "The American has broken my back by killing my father. I will not let the Americans get away with it. I will follow the path of my father and will hold another camera."

  A statement from the two probes said the air crew had acted appropriately and followed the rules of engagement.

  WikiLeaks said it obtained the video from a number of "military whistleblowers".

  PHOTO CAPTION

  This frame grab image from classified US military gun camera footage, shot from a US army Apache helicopter and released by Wikileaks.org on April 5, shows a group of men, including one believed to be Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen (C), 22, in Baghdad on July 12, 2007, just before the group was fired upon by the helicopter, killing Noor-Eldeen and his driver, along with several others.

  Source: Aljazeera.net

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