WASHINGTON - Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have surrendered on 14 counts of manslaughter and dozens of other charges in connection with an investigation into a deadly 2007 shooting at a busy Baghdad intersection.
Prosecutors say Blackwater guards used machine-guns and grenade launchers on motorists and bystanders.
A sixth guard has admitted in a plea deal to killing at least one Iraqi in the shooting.
National security prosecutor Pat Rowan says the U.S. government alleges that at least 34 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children, were killed or injured without justification or provocation by the Blackwater security guards.
In addition to being charged with manslaughter, the five guards also face 20 counts of attempted manslaughter.
They are also charged with using a machine-gun to commit a crime of violence, a charge that carrries a 30-year minimum sentence.
