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Security guards fire on Iraqi car

Other News Materials 10 October 2007 02:24 (UTC +04:00)

( BBC ) - Foreign private security guards escorting a convoy through central Baghdad have killed two Iraqi women in a passing car, Iraqi sources say.

A Dubai-based firm confirmed one of its teams had opened fire after a car failed to heed warnings to pull away, and said it regretted the deaths.

One Iraqi policeman likened the guards to "gangsters riding away".

The conduct of Western security firms in Iraq is already in question after a shooting in Baghdad last month.

In a statement released to the BBC News website, Unity Resources Group said it was aware of a shooting incident involving one of its security teams.

"The first information that we have is that our security team was approached at speed by a vehicle which failed to stop despite an escalation of warnings which included hand signals and a signal flare," the Dubai-based firm said.

"Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped."

Unity was, it added, "working with the Iraqi authorities" to investigate the outcome of the incident, and would pass on any further information once the facts had been verified.

The latest shooting happened in the Karada district, an area considered one of the safest in the city, the BBC's Jon Brain reports from Baghdad.

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