BAGHDAD — An American helicopter strike north of Baghdad killed eight people in a vehicle, including at least two children, Iraqi officials said yesterday, insisting all the dead were civilians. The American military said six were Al Qaeda terrorists but acknowledged children were killed.

AP Television News footage showed the bodies of three children in blood-drenched clothes — the eldest appearing to be in his early teens — along with the bodies of five men, at the hospital in Beiji, where the dead were taken after Wednesday evening’s strike.

Iraqi and American officials each put the number of slain children at two. The reason for the discrepancies between the two accounts and the TV footage was not known.

It was the latest incident threatening to alienate Sunni Arabs, who have played a key role in the steep decline in violence over the past year by joining forces with the Americans against Al Qaeda in Iraq. Beiji, an oil hub 155 miles north of Baghdad, lies in a largely Sunni Arab area.

In the attack, the military said its forces were targeting members of an Al Qaeda suicide bombing network. The forces engaged the occupants of a vehicle after they refused to surrender and “exhibited hostile intent.”

It said five suspected “terrorists” were killed along with two children in the vehicle. A sixth militant was killed in a field next to the road, according to a statement.

A Beiji police colonel, Mudhher al-Qaisi, however, said the dead were six civilian farmers and two children who were fleeing in their vehicle from the area after the American forces launched their raids. He said an American helicopter became suspicious of their vehicle and opened fire on it.

“The residents feel angry now over this act by the American troops. The victims were unarmed and work as farmers,” Colonel Qaisi said.

Mohammed al-Shimmari, who lives in the area, said the raid took place when a group of his relatives gathered at the home of his cousin after hearing he would be released soon from American custody. He said the Americans were holding the cousin on suspicion of insurgent ties.

When American forces launched a raid on the cousin’s house, those inside fled. They included the group of eight in a minibus, which was then struck by the helicopter, Mr. Shimmari, who lives near his cousin, said.

The American military refused to confirm the mode of attack or specify what weapons were used, saying only that its forces “engaged the target vehicle’s occupants.”

An American spokesman, Colonel Jerry O’Hara, said the military “sincerely regrets when any innocent civilians are injured, resulting from terrorists locating themselves in and around them. We take every precaution to protect innocent civilians and engage only hostile threats.”