BAGHDAD, 10 October 2007 — A foreign security company said it was involved in a shooting in central Baghdad yesterday, making it the second time a private contractor has been accused of killing Iraqi civilians in less than a month.
Dubai-based Unity Resources Group said in a statement its guards had opened fire on a car which failed to stop. Government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said two women were shot dead in their car by foreign security guards yesterday in what he called an “unprovoked” attack.
The Iraqi government has accused US security firm Blackwater of “deliberately killing” 17 Iraqis on Sept. 16.
The Blackwater shooting in western Baghdad last month caused outrage among Iraqis who see security contractors as private armies that act with impunity.
“The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare,” Unity Resources Group, said in a statement. “Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped.”
US Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo, referring to yesterday’s incident, said “there may be a contractual relationship” with a US non-governmental organization (NGO). She did not elaborate.
The killing in the district of Karrada came the same day the Iraqi government demanded US security company Blackwater pay families of 17 people killed in a shooting last month $8 million each in compensation.
Shopkeeper Basim Mohammed said four or five vehicles were driving down the road when the shooting happened. “An Oldsmobile came out of this side road and it had two women in the front and children in the back,” he said.
“They fired a warning shot when they were about 80 meters away, which probably made them panic because they went forward a little bit, and (the security guards) started firing at her from all directions,” Mohammed said.
