Iraq plane thought to have bombed civilians in north: MP

AFP , Friday 28 Oct 2016

An Iraqi aircraft is believed to have carried out a strike on a Shiite place of worship last week that killed 15 people and wounded dozens, a lawmaker said Friday.

The air raid in Daquq, a town in Kirkuk province of northern Iraq, sparked outrage among residents, who have demanded answers on who was behind the deadly October 21 strike.

"It is believed that it was an Iraqi aircraft," said Hakim al-Zamili, a lawmaker and member of the committee investigating the strike, citing preliminary results.

Some say the bombing was due to a technical problem while others believe it was intentional, Zamili said at a news conference in Daquq, promising to find out the cause.

The strike hit a Shiite place of worship that is known as a husseiniyah in Daquq on the afternoon of October 21.

On Thursday, Daquq residents had demanded answers on the strike, criticising the lack of information released so far.

Yaljan Mahdi Sadiq, a leading figure in the Daquq community, said families of the victims had refused compensation from the Iraqi government.

"They don't want money, they want to know who committed this horrible crime against them," Sadiq said.

The US-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq had previously said it had "definitively" determined it did not carry out the Daquq strike.

Russia had pointed an accusing finger at the coalition a day after the attack.

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