U.S. soldier kills 5 fellow troops at Baghdad base: Pentagon

U.S. soldier kills 5 fellow troops at Baghdad base: Pentagon

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military says five American soldiers have been killed in a shooting at a U.S. base in Baghdad.

A Pentagon official says a U.S. soldier killed five fellow troops at the base. The military said in a statement that the shooting occurred about 2 p.m. Monday at Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport.

No further details were released.

Camp Liberty Iraq also know as Camp Victory North, or Camp al-Tahreer, is located northeast of Baghdad International Airport.

This base has the largest PX in Iraq plus a large "mall" with over seventy Iraqi national vendors.

Burger King, KFC and other fast food establishments can be found at this PX as well. Generally the lines are long but they seem to move fairly fast.

Story Highlights

NEW: Official now says it's unclear if gunman is among dead

Source says U.S. soldier opens fire on fellow troops

Five killed and three others wounded in incident

Shootings took place at Camp Liberty in Baghdad

A U.S. soldier opened fire on fellow troops at one of the main U.S. bases in Baghdad on Monday, killing five, the U.S. military said.

"The shooter is a U.S. soldier and he is in custody," said Marine Corps Lieutenant Tom Garnett, a U.S. military spokesman.

A U.S. military statement said the shooting took place around 2 p.m. local time at the sprawling base, Camp Liberty, located next to Baghdad airport.

Earlier this month, two U.S. soldiers were killed by a man wearing an Iraqi Army uniform at an Iraqi military training center in northern Iraq.

Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq, but insurgent attacks continue, and a rash of major bombings has raised questions about security less than two months before U.S. forces are due to withdraw combat troops from urban bases.

Thirteen U.S. soldiers were killed in combat in April, including five who were killed in a single attack in the restive northern city of Mosul.

The United States military said Monday that five American soldiers had been shot to death by a fellow soldier who opened fire on them at one of the biggest American bases in Baghdad, and that the suspected shooter was in custody.

The killings appeared to be the worst case of lethal non-combat casualties for the American forces in Iraq since the invasion more than six years ago.

The shooting took place at around 2 p.m. local time at Camp Liberty, a sprawling base next to Baghdad airport, the military said in a statement. The names of the dead soldiers were being withheld pending family notification, the statement said.

CNN, citing unnamed officials, said that at least three others were wounded in the attack, which it said had taken place at a clinic for soldiers suffering from war stress.