An American soldier killed five of his fellow troops at a base in Baghdad, the Pentagon said today.
The five were killed in a shooting 2pm local time, at Camp Liberty near Baghdad international airport.
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths is underway. The toll was the highest for US personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in the northern city of Mosul.
In a separate incident, a US soldier was killed yesterday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Basra province of southern Baghdad.
Earlier this month, two US soldiers were killed by a man wearing an Iraqi army uniform at an Iraqi military training centre in northern Iraq.
Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq, but insurgent attacks continue, and a rash of big bombings has raised questions about security less than two months before US forces are due to withdraw combat troops from urban bases.
Thirteen US soldiers were killed in combat in April, including the five who died in Mosul.
US soldier shoots and kills five fellow troops at Baghdad base | World news | guardian.co.uk
Sunni violence against Shiites is on the rise too- and frankly much more newsworthy because of the numbers killed. Certainly, I think there will be a rise in violence in Iraq as the US withdrawal continues. Will it threaten, or impeded the disengagement? Dunno- depends how bad it gets I guess.
Disgruntled Sunni's have been talking about a rise in violence for some time, some Sunni warlords that were in the pay of the US even said the same thing- and that their armed struggle against the Shiites would resume as the US withdrew. I wonder how the Shiite militia's, and the mainly Shiite government/ Armed forces will respond?