Three Iraqi civilians killed in accident-US military

BAGHDAD, June 4 (Reuters) A US artillery round landed in a small Iraqi town and police reported afterwards that two civilians were killed in a blast and one woman later died from her wounds, the US military said today.

Three other people were also reported wounded and six houses were damaged in the town of Hibhib, north of Baghdad, after a US artillery unit fired a 155 mm round during training on Friday, it said in a statement.

''Accident in Diyala (province) kills three, injures three,'' the statement's headline said.

The incident came at a sensitive time for Iraqi-U.S.

relations.

New Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last week he was losing patience with reports of U.S. killings of Iraqi civilians ''by mistake''.

The U.S. military statement said a self-propelled howitzer fired the round from a base near the bigger regional town of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of the capital.

''A short time later Iraqi Police reported an explosion at a building in the town (Hibhib) that killed two Iraqi civilians, injured four others and damaged six houses,'' the statement said.

One of the wounded civilians was evacuated to a military medical facility but later died, it added.

Just two weeks after Maliki took office, relations between his government and the United States appear to have been soured by accusations of U.S. troops killing Iraqi civilians.

Maliki told Reuters in an interview last week: ''We are worried about the increase in 'mistakes' ... I am not saying that they are intentional. But it is worrying for us.'' Last Wednesday, a joint Iraqi-US security body said US forces had killed ''by mistake'' two women who were en route to a maternity hospital north of Baghdad.

The US military is also under pressure over accusations that US Marines may have killed 24 civilians in the town of Haditha last November.

In a separate incident reported by the US military today, it said it had detained 19 ''terrorists'' during a search operation in eastern Baghdad yesterday. One of the detainees ''reported having difficulty breathing'' and died of a heart attack, it said.

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