BAGHDAD — An American attack helicopter opened fire Thursday night on members of a U.S.- backed, mainly Sunni paramilitary force because they were spotted placing a roadside bomb near an American base north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Friday.
Leaders of the force, known among Iraqis as the Awakening and by American soldiers as the Sons of Iraq, disputed the U.S. account.
Salim al-Hatim, a local commander, said American officials apologized Friday for what he said they called an apparent error by an air weapons team. One Awakening fighter was killed and two were wounded, U.S. officials said.
“The Americans are lying when they say the fighters were digging in the area,” said Anor Abu Abdullah, who was in charge of the checkpoint. “This is an attempt to kill the Sons of Iraq and destroy this project.”
Iraqi and U.S. officials fear that the disintegration of the Awakening groups could help revive the Sunni insurgency and stoke sectarian tension at a time when American forces are reducing their activities in Iraq. The air attack came less than a week after the arrest of an Awakening leader in Baghdad sparked clashes between his followers and U.S.-backed Iraqi soldiers.
Hatim said five Awakening members were staffing a checkpoint 25 miles north of the capital on a main road that connects Baghdad and Mosul when a U.S. helicopter opened fire on them about 8 p.m. Thursday. Abu Abdullah, commander of the checkpoint, said the fighters were wearing Sons of Iraq uniforms.
Col. John Robinson, a U.S. military spokesman, said via e-mail that the men “were clearly not operating a checkpoint at the time they were engaged” with 33mm rounds from an AH-64 Apache helicopter.
“Evidence of an IED being emplaced was found and collected at the site on Friday,” he said.
Robinson said a U.S. battalion commander attempted to speak with the fighter’s leader Friday but did not mention whether an apology was offered.
The U.S. military recently stopped paying Sons of Iraq members, many of whom are former insurgents who were put on the American payroll in 2007 in a high-stakes strategy to quell the insurgency.
Under heavy pressure from the U.S. military, the Shiite-led Iraqi government agreed to assume responsibility for the payments and absorb some into its security forces.
But in recent weeks, several Sons of Iraq groups have disintegrated, and some members have reportedly rejoined the insurgency, saying the government has failed to pay them on time and has been reluctant to admit them into police academies.
