US soldiers kill Iraqi tribal chief's son

U.S. soldiers killed an Iraqi tribal chief's son and wounded his wife in what the Americans on Saturday called a tragic accident, although local accounts of the incident differed. U.S. troops were travelling through the district of Kanaan, northeast of Baghdad, late on Thursday when Zhaheri tribe chief Thaher Zaihud al-Zhaheri's son, Ahmed, walked outside the family's front door and was shot dead, the tribal leader said. Further gunfire wounded Zhaheri's wife in the leg. According to the U.S. military, American soldiers were conducting a reconnaissance patrol ahead of a combined operation with Iraqi security forces when the "tragic accident" occurred. "Villagers responded to what they thought were intruders and began firing in the darkness, which caused other residents to come out of their homes and also fire their rifles," a statement said.