Iraqi 'friendly fire' drone accident kills nine anti-IS fighters

The Iraqi army remotely piloted aircraft apparently mistook coordinates and opened fire on the pro-government fighters clashing with IS militants on Saturday near the city of Tikrit.

Nine members of the Shia militia group were killed and at least 14 wounded.

"The initial report is that an Iraqi strike erroneously identified our forces as enemy forces and carried out a strike," said Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Committees, an umbrella group of mostly Shia militias fighting IS in Iraq.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has immediately opened an investigation into the attack, Assadi added.

An Iraqi strike erroneously identified our forces as enemy forces

The incident highlights the complex array of different ground and air forces with varying lines of command currently engaged in the fight against IS militants.

The US-led coalition operates its own aerial campaigns against IS and provides close air support to Iraqi government ground forces as well as Kurdish Peshmerga troops.

Its aircraft were reportedly not active in the area at the time of the incident.

Coalition forces have recently stepped up their air raids against IS locations, killing hundreds of militants, reportedly including senior leaders.

Meanwhile, Iraqi aviation forces conduct air raids in conjunction with the coalition - but also in support of the Popular Mobilisation Committees, with which the US-led coalition is reluctant to get involved, with several officials considering them too closely aligned to Iran.