U.S. troops shot to death two employees of a U.S.-funded television station Al-Iraqiya on Monday and wounded a third in the central city of Samara, the station said.
Correspondent Asaad Kadhim and driver Hussein Saleh were killed. Cameraman Bassem Kamel was wounded “after American forces opened fire on them while they were performing their duty,” the station announced.
The station, which is funded by the Pentagon, interrupted its broadcasts to announce the deaths and showed photos of Kadhim. It then began airing only Quranic texts as a symbol of mourning.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
Thamir Ibrahim, an Al-Iraqiya editor, told The Associated Press he had no details on how the shooting occurred, but said: “It was on the road leading to the city of Samara. Before they reached it, they were fired upon.”
They were taken to a Samara hospital, he said. “We wanted to go (to them) now, but the road is closed, so we will go tomorrow.”
On March 18, U.S. troops shot dead correspondent Ali al-Khatib and cameraman Ali Abdel-Aziz of the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news station.
Al-Khatib and Abdel-Aziz were shot near a U.S. military checkpoint while covering the aftermath of a rocket attack on the Burj al-Hayat hotel in Baghdad.
