Private security convoy kills two Iraqi women

Gunfire from a private security convoy killed two Iraqi women driving through Baghdad on Tuesday, Interior Ministry sources told CNN.

One of the officials said the firm involved was a "Western private security company." The name of the firm has not been released. Blackwater USA said it was not involved. The company is under intense scrutiny over Iraqi claims that its guards protecting U.S. government officials killed civilians in an unprovoked attack last month.

Brig. Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf, Interior Ministry spokesman, said the two women killed were Christians. He told CNN that 19 bullets hit their vehicle.

A man who said he witnessed the shooting told CNN he believes the women in the car became frightened when the security detail fired warning shots. "Yes, they killed those two women," said the man. The women "were sitting in the front ... and there were two kids, but the two kids -- nothing happened to them."

The Blackwater incident on September 16 produced an outcry in Iraq and raised questions about the accountability of foreign security contractors in Iraq who, under an order laid down by the U.S.-led occupation government, are not subject to Iraqi law for actions taken within their contracts.

[CNN]