BAGHDAD - Iraqi troops detained 43 people, among them Sri Lankans, Nepalese and Iraqis, after a shooting incident involving a private security convoy in Baghdad, the US military said Tuesday.
An Iraqi military official said a woman was wounded in Monday's shooting in Baghdad's central Karrada neighbourhood when the streets were crowded with shoppers.
US military spokesman Major Winfield Danielson said that the company involved, Dubai-based Almco Group, is contracted to the US military in Iraq.
"But we haven't confirmed whether or not they were supporting our contract at the time of the incident," he said.
There has been mounting controversy over the operations of private security guards in Iraq since a shooting in September in which guards of Blackwater USA gunned down civilians in a Baghdad square.
Danielson said initial reports indicated that those detained included 10 Iraqis, 21 Sri Lankans, nine Nepalese, one Indian and two Fijians. They were being held at an Iraqi army camp.
"There are coalition forces staying with the detained individuals," he said.
Thousands of Asian workers are employed in the service industry connected to the vast US military operation in Iraq. It is believed those detained were being escorted by Iraqi security guards at the time of the incident.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed the detentions.
"They are being held by the army. We are investigating this incident. We will decide after the investigation whether we will release them," Dabbagh said.
Almco, which has contracts with the US military to provide food and water to military transition teams, has not commented on the incident.
A policeman at the scene said that the incident had occurred around noon on Monday and was unprovoked.
"A truck was transporting Asian workers through Karrada, escorted by three vehicles. They were driving on the wrong side of the road and guards in the vehicle opened fire to disperse people," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to talk to the media.
"Because of the shooting, a 20-year-old woman was wounded in the leg," he added.
"Iraqi security forces in the area immediately raced to the scene and surrounded the vehicles. A number of guards and Asian workers fled down a side street chased by the security forces and people from the neighbourhood, who arrested them," the policeman said.
"They were taken away by the Iraqi army."
Last week, the New York Times reported that the FBI had found in its initial investigation that at least 14 Iraqis were killed without justification in the September 16 shooting involving US contractor Blackwater.
In all, 17 people were killed when Blackwater staff opened fire in a crowded Baghdad neighbourhood as they protected a State Department convoy.
On October 10, guards employed by Australian-managed security firm Unity Resources Group raked a car with automatic gunfire, killing two women in central Baghdad.
On November 10, guards of US company DynCorp shot dead a taxi driver in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Utafiyah as they were escorting US diplomats.
A furious Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has demanded that Blackwater leave the country.
The issue is under discussion between US diplomats and military officials and the Iraqi government in a joint commission set up to examine in depth the deployment of private guards in Iraq.
Blair blasts Britons over Iraq war