American troops stationed in Iraq have justified the killing of a girl by saying she was in close vicinity of an accelerating vehicle.
The 12-year-old girl was standing 100 meters behind a vehicle accelerating toward an Iraqi police station in Hurriya in Nineveh province, according to a US military news release.
The girl died on Monday.
"The coalition forces and Iraqi police waved and yelled for the vehicle to stop," reads part of the news release. "After the vehicle failed to stop, coalition forces fired two warning rounds."
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Troops attempted to treat her at the scene, but she died while being transported to a hospital.
The release said Col. Gary Volesky, commander of US forces in Nineveh province, "expresses his condolences to the girl's family for the unfortunate accident."
According to the release, a probe has been launched into the incident. There has been no news of what happened to the vehicle.
