U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women _ one of them about to give birth _ when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday.

Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday.

assim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses.

The U.S. military said coalition troops fired at a car after it entered a clearly marked prohibited area near an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings.

"Shots were fired to disable the vehicle," the military said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "Coalition forces later received reports from Iraqi police that two women had died from gunshot wounds ... and one of the females may have been pregnant."

Jassim's brother, who was wounded by broken glass, said he did not see any warnings as he sped his sister to the hospital. Her husband was waiting for her there.

"I was driving my car at full speed because I did not see any sign or warning from the Americans. It was not until they shot the two bullets that killed my sister and cousin that I stopped," he said. "God take revenge on the Americans and those who brought them here. They have no regard for our lives."

yea, that's pretty crappy. Shit happens. But I find it rather hard to believe he didn't receive warnings, and I find it hard to believe he didn't notice.

nope, haven't heard that one yet.

As for him not looking at the road...if he's driving as fast as his car would let him, through areas occupied with gun-toting US troops and Iraqi traffic, he's as likely to have run into a car/pedestrian/building as get blown away by US troops.

Anyway, bring on the massacre.

I wouldnt' be overly suprised. Shit happens. The important thing is crap like this gets caught and the people that perpetrated it are tried for murder. If it really was an execution (or massacre, or whatever) then there's no excuse.

If it really went up the chain of command who tried to cover it up, those people should be tried as well.

At least they're not government-approved cleansings like a certain former Iraqi regime was notorious for.