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Witness History: Blackwater killed my son

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Blackwater killed my son

24/09/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Blackwater killed my son

How US private security guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad, killing 17 people

An Iraqi father remembers the day that US private security guards opened fire on civilians in central Baghdad killing 17 people, including his son Ali.

On 16 September 2007 private security guards employed by the American firm Blackwater opened fire on civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed, and another 20 injured. The Blackwater guards, who were escorting a convoy from the American embassy, claimed that they had come under attack from insurgents, but eye-witnesses and Iraqi offficials quickly dismissed that version of events. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Mohammed Kinani who was driving through the area at the time, and whose 9-year-old son Ali, was shot dead by the Americans.

Photo: An Iraqi looks at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad on 16 September 2007 (Credit ALI YUSSEF/AFP via Getty Images)

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