8 mistakenly killed in clash with U.S.-Iraqi joint force in Iraq's Anbar province

Eight people were killed mistakenly and 10 wounded Saturday when a U.S. and Iraqi joint force clashed with local police and paramilitary tribal fighters in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said, Xinhua reports.

The incident took place after midnight when a U.S. and Iraqi joint force raided a house of a terrorist suspect in the town of al-Baghdadi, some 190 km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Captain Mohammed al-Dulaimi from the provincial police told Xinhua.

The local police and paramilitary tribal fighters were surprised by the raid and came to the site to identify the troops, but a clash erupted between the two sides and U.S. helicopter gunships pounded the local police and the tribal fighters, Dulaimi said.

A U.S. helicopter also bombarded a convoy of Colonel Salam al-Obeidi, head of the town's police, while his convoy approached the battlefield. Some policemen, including Obeidi himself, were killed in the clash, Dulaimi added.