The Blackwater guards accused of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007 opened fire without provocation, a federal prosecutor has said. It’s alleged the guards harbored deep-rooted hostility towards Iraqis and boasted of their indiscriminate shooting.
The troops, who were formerly employed by the Blackwater private security company that policed US military zones, claim their lives were in danger and they acted in self-defense. However, Assistant US Attorney Patrick Martin said in a trial Tuesday that some of the victims were simply trying to escape the gunfire of the Blackwater guards.
“Fourteen died, 18 injured. For what?” he said in his opening statements before a jury in the US District Court for the District of Colombia. The trial comes seven years after the shootings and has been plagued by delays because of a lack of evidence.
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