At least 12 civilians were killed and at least 25 wounded when an Iraqi fighter jet accidentally dropped a bomb over Baghdad on Monday, The Associated Press reported. Three children and two women were among the fatalities, according to reports by local officials.

The bomb hit a number of houses in the Iraqi capital's eastern neighborhood of New Baghdad, according to Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim, a spokesman for the country's military. It was dropped from a Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jet that had suffered a technical failure, the officer explained.

The plane had been taking part in an airstrike against militants of the ISIS terror group, which controls large swaths of territory across Iraq and Syria, Reuters reported. The bomb fell as the fighter was returning to base after it had failed to detach during the earlier strike.

On the ground in Baghdad, rescue teams in orange jumpsuits and blue helmets were searching through the rubble for victims. As an ambulance took wounded civilians to a hospital, a crowd that had gathered at the explosion site picked through twisted metal and concrete rubble in an effort to assist others.

As the country is going through its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, the accident compounded the frustrations of Baghdad residents, the Washington Post noted.

"The lousy government is killing us all," said Iqbal Turki, whose 27-year-old cousin was killed in the strike. "An Iraqi plane bombing its own civilians; how can this happen?"

Saad Kichan, 42, who lives near the explosion site, said the neighbors had first suspected that the noise they heard was due to a detonating car bomb. "But then we hear it's a technical error by a plane," he said. "The people are very angry."

Even though the United States has spent more than $25 billion on training and equipping the Iraqi army, it left the country without a functioning air force. Military officials had previously complained that the outdated technology of their Russian jets could lead to civilian casualties.