Military now says Ramadi attackers not policemen

Left: Traditional Arab male garb, such as that the attackers mistaken as police are now said to have been wearing.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Preliminary investigation into an incident on an April 16 Coalition Forces raid in Ramadi revealed that individuals killed were not Iraqi policemen as originally reported.

During the investigation it was determined that the three men killed and one wounded were not Iraqi police members as originally believed. Actual Iraqi police operating in the area were notified by Coalition Forces while they were planning the raid. Iraqi police in the area were again notified immediately before Coalition Forces entered the target area.

During the course of the operation, ground forces began receiving intense small arms fire from armed men in two separate buildings. Using appropriate self-defense measures, Coalition Forces returned fire.

The wounded individual identified the group as Iraqi Police and the individuals utilized a vehicle that resembled local Iraqi Police vehicles.

Investigation later revealed the armed individuals were dressed in dishdashas, which is traditional male Arabic garb, and not in Iraqi police uniforms.

Later in the operation, Coalition Forces cleared another targeted building and detained seven suspected terrorists with alleged ties to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

From the MNF

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Iraqi police near Ramadi open fire on 'coalition forces'; 3 police killed, 1 wounded