BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops during a joint patrol in the northern city of Mosul on December 26, killing two and wounding three others along with a civilian interpreter, Iraqi and U.S. officials said on Saturday.
The U.S. military said it was not clear why the Iraqi soldier had opened fire, but two Iraqi generals told Reuters the attacker had links to Sunni Arab insurgent groups. "The Iraqi soldier who allegedly opened fire fled the scene but was identified by other Iraqi army personnel and was then apprehended.Two Iraqi army soldiers are now being held in connection with the incident," the military said.
Al Jazeera adds:
The patrol "was attacked by gunmen and the soldier abused the situation and killed the two soldiers. The soldier was an insurgent infiltrator," Brigadier-General Mutaa al-Khazraji, commander of the Iraqi army's second division, said.
Brigadier-General Noor al-Din Hussein, commander of the Iraqi Army's fourth Brigade, second division, said that the Iraqi soldier had been in the army for only one year and was an Arab from the Jubouri tribe. "There is some penetration [by insurgents] and we want to purify the Iraqi army. Our soldiers are good and doing well. This is the first time something like this has happened," he said.
Spies and infiltrators have been a concern for armies since the dawn of warfare. From the Al Jazeera report it sounds like the Iraqi army is dealing with the problem. Let's hope so.
UPDATE 1/5 10:19 PM: MNF-I press release here.
