Iraqis’ Bodies to Be Autopsied in Shooting Inquiry
The bodies of four Iraqi insurgents who died in Fallouja were being sent to an Air Force base in Dover, Del., on Thursday for autopsies as part of an investigation into whether they were killed by U.S. forces after they surrendered or while wounded, Defense Department officials said.
The four corpses are part of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry into the videotaped shooting of an apparently wounded and unarmed insurgent by a Marine at a Fallouja mosque last week, said three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon decided to bring the bodies to the United States to make use of mortuary and forensic experts at Dover, which is also the gateway for American service members killed abroad, the officials said.
The number of bodies selected for autopsy reflects an expansion of the investigation since Saturday, when Kevin Sites, an NBC News cameraman, videotaped a Marine from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, shooting one insurgent at the mosque.
Pentagon officials could not say whether all the bodies came from the mosque.
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