US soldiers have accidentally shot and killed a child yesterday in Iraq's Diyala province, the US military said today.
The military said soldiers were in an area where roadside bombs had been found recently in ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala.
US military spokesman
The soldiers fired a warning shot into a sand berm after they found a "suspicious woman who appeared to be signalling to someone".
The military said a young girl was found on the other side of the berm suffering from a gunshot wound. Soldiers treated the girl but she died on the way to hospital.
They said the incident was under investigation.
"Coalition forces take the loss of any innocent civilian life seriously, and the incident will be thoroughly investigated," said a US military spokesman.
Last month, a child was among nine civilians killed in a US military strike south of Baghdad.