BAGHDAD — British soldiers and Iraqi police clashed yesterday with armed, stone-throwing protesters in southeastern Iraq, killing six persons.
The trouble in Amarah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, started when hundreds of Iraqis angry over the lack of jobs in town gathered in front of the office of the U.S.-led coalition to demand work.
As the protesters grew agitated, shots rang out from the crowd, a British military spokeswoman said. At the same time, she said troops “received reports of small explosions in the crowd.”
Iraqi police, believing they were under attack, opened fire into the crowd but did not hit any of the protesters, she said. But witnesses said the police killed some of the protesters.
British soldiers moved in with armored vehicles to support the police, and protesters hurled at least three explosive devices at them, she said.
One man “who was in the process of throwing a device” was shot dead by the soldiers, the spokeswoman said.
The crowd dispersed but later some of them returned and lobbed two explosive devices at the armored cars. Soldiers shot one of the attackers and apparently wounded him, she added. Three other devices were thrown at the soldiers before tensions eased.
Six persons were killed and at least 11 wounded, according to Dr. Saad Hamoud of the Al-Zahrawi Surgical Hospital. The British said they had reports of five deaths and one injury. There were no casualties among police or soldiers.
In other developments yesterday, U.S. officials acknowledged American soldiers mistakenly killed two Iraqi police officers after they failed to identify themselves to a patrol.
The shooting occurred Friday after paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade responded to a report of “family fighting” in Kirkuk, about 150 miles north of Baghdad.
The U.S. military is investigating why the police officers refused to identify themselves.
The Iraqi Governing Council yesterday released the first set of post-Saddam Hussein stamps, replacing the old ones that bore the dictator’s ubiquitous image. The new stamps show pictures of old-fashioned transportation, such as a man in traditional Arab robes driving a horse-drawn carriage carrying a man in a suit.
Also yesterday, the military said a Black Hawk medevac helicopter that crashed Thursday south of Fallujah was shot down by ground fire.
Iraqi witnesses said they saw a missile strike the second of two medevac helicopters as they flew over an area known for resistance against the U.S.-led occupation.
The nine deaths aboard the helicopter brought to 494 the number of American service members who have died since the Iraq war began March 20.
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