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It is questionable whether the soldiers were actually killed out of revenge. Iraqis around Mahmudiya, where the rape and murder took place, believed at the time that the girl and the other three victims — her younger sister and parents — were killed by other Iraqis in sectarian violence, according to the mayor of Mahmudiya and American military officials. The mayor said the possible involvement of American soldiers only became apparent on June 30, when the American military announced it had opened an investigation into the crime.