According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. Īn Iraqi government account of the incident stated that as the convoy drew close to Nisour Square, a Kia sedan with a woman and her adult son in it was approaching the square from a distance, driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver ignored a police officer's whistle to clear a path for the convoy. Army convoy arrived at 12:39 p.m., backed by air cover, to escort TST 22 back to the Green Zone. TST 22 arrived at Nisour Square after Raven 23 had left when TST 22 tried to withdraw, its route was blocked by Iraqi Army and Police vehicles. As Raven 23 was departing Nisour Square, several members continued to discharge their weapons, causing additional civilian deaths and injuries. Raven 23 "returned defensive fire" and withdrew from Nisour Square with one of its BearCat vehicles in tow. The report added that another Blackwater Tactical Support Team (TST 22), who had escorted the officials and TST 4 back to the Green Zone, was redirected to support Raven 23. Ī State Department spot report published the same day as the incident stated that eight to ten attackers opened fire on Raven 23 "from multiple nearby locations, with some aggressors dressed in civilian apparel and others in Iraqi police uniforms" after the convoy had entered Nisour Square, starting at 12:08 p.m. The Kia continued to roll forward after the driver was killed, according to an eyewitness, and Raven 23 continued to fire on it, killing the passenger (the driver's mother) eventually, the Kia was struck by a grenade and was incinerated. The driver of the Kia was shot once in the head by a Blackwater contractor and was killed. Prosecutors argued the men did not face hostile gunfire when they began shooting, and continued to shoot despite the lack of threats. : 116ĭuring opening arguments for a criminal trial held in 2014, defense lawyers representing former Blackwater members of Raven 23 argued the men felt the approaching Kia was a credible threat as a possible car bomb, and opened fire in self-defense. : 32 Shortly after assuming their positions, "Raven 23" began firing on civilians in response to an approaching car, killing fourteen and wounding twenty more. However, after "Raven 23" entered Nisour Square, Watson was ordered to "lock down the traffic circle to expedite the travel of ". : 116 The Blackwater commander, Jimmy Watson, had received an order to stand by and not leave the Green Zone upon reaching a checkpoint, but he made a "tactical decision" to advance to Nisour Square after waiting for a few minutes upon informing the Blackwater Tactical Operations Center of this, he was ordered to return to the Green Zone. Just before noon on September 16, 2007, a car bomb exploded near the Izdihar Compound where US and Iraqi officials were meeting, : 547 and a 19-man Blackwater Tactical Support Team (TST) consisting of a convoy of four trucks, answering to the call sign "Raven 23", took up positions on the south side of Nisour Square to secure an evacuation route for the US officials and another Blackwater team providing security for them. The Kia's passenger, Iraqi traffic officer, and fourteen more civilians in the column of northbound traffic subsequently are shot and killed. Incident ģ Northbound Kia near the head of the line fails to stop driver is shot and killed by 'Raven 23'. The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause. The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater. State Department has said that "innocent life was lost", and according to The Washington Post, a military report appeared to corroborate "the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault". The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked. īlackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. federal court one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges all four convicted were controversially pardoned by President Donald Trump in December 2020, in violation of international law. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in U.S. The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
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