BAGHDAD - Two American soldiers were killed and nine wounded on Tuesday when an Iraqi soldier opened fire after an argument over a sports match they had been playing, US and Iraqi military officials said.
The shooting, which resulted in the first American fatalities since Washington declared an end to combat operations in Iraq last week, occurred within an Iraqi army compound near the city of Tuz Khurmatu in Salaheddin province, while a US army company was visiting local security forces.
"Eleven US soldiers were engaged with small arms fire, killing two and wounding nine, inside an Iraqi army commando compound," a US military statement said.
Iraqi defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said that Iraqi and American troops had been playing a sports match when a quarrel erupted between one local and one US soldier.
"The Iraqi soldier opened fire on them," he said, naming the gunman as Soran Rahman Saleh Wali.
"The American soldiers killed the Iraqi soldier. We have opened a high-level investigation into this issue."
US forces said the shooting happened at around 3:50 pm (1250 GMT), and said the individual medical conditions of the wounded could not be confirmed. It said the names of the killed would be released after their families were informed.
Under the terms of a bilateral security pact, American soldiers are allowed to return fire in self-defence, and take part in operations if requested by their Iraqi counterparts.
The deaths were the first American military fatalities in Iraq since the US declared an end to its combat mission on August 31, transforming its role into what it has described as "advise and assist" operations.
Tuesday's violence brought to 4,418 the total number of US soldiers who have died in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org.
"This is a tragic and cowardly act, which I firmly believe was an isolated incident and is certainly not reflective of the Iraqi security forces in Salaheddin," said Major General Tony Cuculo, commander of American forces in northern Iraq.
The shooting comes just two days after American troops helped repel a coordinated suicide attack on an Iraqi army complex in Baghdad.
The attack, which killed 12 people, occurred on Sunday morning at Rusafa military command headquarters, in the centre of the capital, when six suicide bombers assaulted the compound in a minibus.
While nearly 50,000 US troops remain stationed in Iraq, US Vice President Joe Biden launched the new mission while visiting Baghdad last week, opening up a fresh phase in a seven-year deployment.