US forces killed eight people and destroyed a home in air strikes in the restive city of Baquba today in whay appears to be a botched attempt to arrest militants.
The US military called the deaths "unfortunate" and said it was unsure how many of those killed were militants. Neighbours and relatives in the town, Baquba, said those killed included seven members of a family and one neighbour.
The deaths happened when the air force was called in during a gunbattle before dawn.
The strike was denounced by Sunni groups and could raise tensions in the area, one of the most volatile in Iraq.
The military said in a statement that its soldiers had attracted fire during a raid in pursuit of al Qaeda suspects.
Iraqi translators called out in Arabic through loudspeakers for a ceasefire, but shooting continued from one house. Soldiers fired back, killing two men, and then ordered air strikes, which killed two more men and four women, the statement said.
Two other men and a woman were wounded, and the US forces treated them before detaining the men and taking the woman to hospital, it said.
The initial US military statement described all the men killed and wounded as "terrorists".
"Coalition forces strive to mitigate risks to civilians while in pursuit of terrorists. Terrorists continue to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence," it said.
However, US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell later told a briefing that the military was still trying to determine whether the people it had killed and captured included the suspects it had targeted in the raid.