Ishaqi Incident

The Ishaqi incident refers to the reported mass murder of Iraqi civilians allegedly committed by United States forces in the town of Ishaqi in March 2006. After the incident, Iraqi police accused the US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people, including five children and four women, before blowing up their house. A US military spokesman at the time responded that it was "highly unlikely that were true". US authorities said they were involved in a firefight after a tip-off that an al-Qaeda cell leader, Ahmad Abdallah Muhammad Na'is al-Utaybi, was visiting the house. According to the Americans, the building collapsed under heavy fire, killing four people—a suspect, two women and a child.

The incident immediately raised questions by U.N. investigators as revealed by diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks. In June 2006 the US indicated they were re-investigating the incident, after the BBC obtained a tape from "a hardline Sunni group" that appeared to contain evidence supporting the allegations of the Iraqi police. The investigation found, on June 2, 2006 that US military personnel had followed the proper procedures and rules of engagement, and that they had done nothing wrong. The Iraqi government immediately rejected the results of the US probe, stating they would continue their own investigation.