Iran launched a cross-border air attack on Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq May 2—the first time Tehran has used aircraft against Kurdish guerillas. Kurdish border guards claim that Iranian helicopters began shelling three Kurdish villages—Kani Saif, Jomarasi and Kara Sozi—in the remote Panjwin district of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region at 1:30 AM local time. The attacks continued for over an hour. The aircraft reportedly did not enter Iraq and there were no reports of casualties.

Turkish warplanes again bombed PKK strongholds in northern Iraq on April 29 and 30 Anakara said. The new strikes targeted positions in the Zap and Avashin-Basyan region of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous zone, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) said in a statement on its Web site. "The targets ... have been hit effectively and with full accuracy," the statement said. There was no estimate of casualties.

The federal trial of a former US soldier accused of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in 2006 began April 27. Former US Army Pfc. Steven Green is also charged with killing the girl's family in Mahmudiya, Iraq. During opening statements, prosecutors said that Green raped the girl, shot her several times, and then burned her body and that he later bragged about the events. Green's defense lawyer argued that Green was under extreme stress from combat conditions. Green could face the death penalty if convicted.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki denounced on April 26 a US military raid that morning as violating the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The agreement states that any military offensives by the US are to be performed in accordance with Iraqi laws and prior notice of any military operations is be given to the Joint Military Operations Coordination Committee (JMOCC). Al-Maliki asserted that the attack, which killed two people, was in violation of the SOFA and that he seeks to subject the responsible US forces to judicial proceedings. Under the SOFA, US military personnel may be subject to Iraqi jurisdiction for grave violations of the terms of the agreement. (Jurist, April 27)

The US Supreme Court April 20 heard oral arguments in Iraq v. Beaty and Iraq v. Simon, two cases that will determine whether Iraq has sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts in cases involving misdeeds that occurred during the Saddam Hussein regime. The plaintiffs in both cases sued the Iraqi government, alleging that they were detained and tortured during the 1990s Gulf War.

The New England Journal of Medicine is releasing a new study by the University of London based on data from Iraq Body Count, finding that sectarian militias were responsible for a full third of killings in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion. The finding that 33% of civilian deaths since the US-led invasion are attributable to armed gangs contradicts previous assertions by the Iraqi government that foreign military operations were responsible for the majority of deaths.

US Army Master Sgt. John Hatley was convicted of murder and conspiracy in court-martial proceedings April 15 for the killing of four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007 and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. Hatley was acquitted of obstruction of justice and also of murder for the separate death of a seriously wounded detainee in early January 2007. Hatley, along with Sgt. Michael Leahy, Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class John Mayo, was charged in September with premeditated murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. He had requested six more months to complete his 20 years of service in the armed forces, but was denied.

US Army Sgt. John Hatley entered a plea of not guilty to murder charges at his court-martial April 13 for the killing of four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007. Hatley, along with Sgt. Michael Leahy, Jr. and Sgt. 1st Class John Mayo, was charged in September with premeditated murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Hatley also faces murder charges for a separate killing of a prisoner during early January 2007. The trial opened at a US military base in Germany, with a verdict expected later this week. If convicted, Hatley could face life in prison.