NYT : Iraq Says Security Firm Kills 2 Women

Iraq Says Security Firm Kills 2 Women

By REUTERS | October 9, 2007

BAGHDAD, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Private security guards escorting a convoy of four vehicles through central Baghdad killed two women on Tuesday, the Iraqi government and police said.

There was no indication who was responsible or what had triggered the incident, but it came the same day the government demanded U.S. security firm Blackwater pay families of 17 people killed in a shooting last month $8 million each in compensation.

Two police sources said the shooting on Tuesday was in the central Baghdad district of Karrada. It was unclear if the women were in a car or on the streets.

"There has been an incident, an attack on civilians. Two Iraqi women were killed and an investigation is going on to find which security company it was," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

A U.S. embassy spokeswoman said they were checking media reports of the shooting.