US troops kill four civilians in western Iraq

US troops on Tuesday opened fire randomly at civilians in central Ramadi, a western city of Iraq, killing four people and wounding five others, medics said.

"We have received four bodies and five wounded people," Ayad Khalaf, an official in Ramadi Hospital, told Xinhua.

"Two roadside bombs struck a US military convoy in the city, destroying an armored vehicle and a Humvee, prompting the US soldiers to open fire randomly at civilians who happened to be at the scene," Khalaf said.

About a dozen civilian cars were damaged by the US armored vehicles when they passed by the scene after the blasts, he added.

It was unknown whether there were any casualties among the US soldiers by the two blasts as the US troops sealed off the area, he said.

Fighting in the volatile Anbar province, where Ramadi is located, flares as sporadic insurgent attacks launched from time to time at the US and Iraqi forces.

Source: Xinhua