Wedding party massacre

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An alleged wedding party in Mukaradeeb, a small village in Iraq near the border with Syria, was the site of American shooting and bombing on May 19, 2004. American officials stated that the location was a "suspected foreign fighter safe house."^[1]

The wedding united members of the already related Rakat and Sabah families: Ashad Rakat was the groom and Rutba, his bride. Witnesses report that the American bombing started at 3am. Local accounts state that 42 men, women and children were killed during the incident. Among the known dead were Iraqi musicians Hussein al-Ali and his brother Mohaned al-Ali. Iraqi officials report 13 children were among the dead. 27 members of the extended Rakat family were killed.^[2]

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the coalition deputy chief of staff for U.S. operations in Iraq, stated that the location was a legitimate target. "We took ground fire and we returned fire. We estimate that around 40 were killed. But we operated within our rules of engagement."^[1] American fire included both bullets and bombs, leaving behind craters.^[2]

In the aftermath, Kimmitt said, "There was no evidence of a wedding: no decorations, no musical instruments found, no large quantities of food or leftover servings one would expect from a wedding celebration. There may have been some kind of celebration. Bad people have celebrations, too." Video footage obtained by the Associated Press shows a series of scenes of a wedding celebration, and footage from the following day showing fragments of musical instruments, pots and pans and brightly colored beddings used for celebrations, scattered around a destroyed tent.^[2]

USMC Major General James Mattis said the idea of a wedding was implausible, "How many people go to the middle of the desert ... to hold a wedding 80 miles (130km) from the nearest civilization? These were more than two dozen military-age males. Let's not be naive."

The Rakats and the Sabahs were residents of Mukaradeeb.^[1]