Thirteen killed in US Falluja attack

Sunday's strike was the latest of a series of attacks on buildings the Americans say they believe were sheltering guerrillas and foreign militants.

Doctor Ahmad Ghanim said earlier in the day that 11 bodies had been brought to Falluja general hospital after the bombing in the south-east of the city, which reduced the house to rubble.

The US-led military said the attack was directed at a den of about 25 people with suspected links to resistance fighter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"The strike, conducted at 2:03am (2203 GMT on Saturday) ... destroyed defensive fighting positions and trench lines near the remains of a house and a foreign fighter checkpoint," said Brigadier General Erv Lessel, the deputy director for the occupation force in Iraq.

US's 'prime enemy'

About 25 people suspected of having ties with the Jordanian-born fighter were at the site just before the attack was launched, Lessel said in a statement, describing it as a "precision operation" based on US and Iraqi intelligence sources.

The US Marine Corps pulled out of the rebellious city west of Baghdad after weeks of fierce fighting in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis. Critics of the withdrawal say the city has since become a haven for resistance fighters.

Several times over the past two months the US military has launched air strikes on buildings in Falluja which it says are safe houses for fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian accused of masterminding a series of attacks.

Washington calls al-Zarqawi, who it says has links to al-Qaida, its prime enemy in Iraq and has put a $25 million price on his head.


Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Sunday he gave the US military the green light for the attack.

Republican Guard leader

"Yesterday the multinational force asked Prime Minister Allawi for permission to make an accurate operation against some definite places ... Places where terrorists hide out," said an official from the prime minister's office.

Meanwhile, a senior Iraqi leader in Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard has been captured near Tikrit, a US military spokesman said on Sunday.

US major Neal O'Brien said US-led forces captured Sufian Mahir Hasan, a former major general in the Republican Guard, near Tikrit on 16 July.

"He is suspected of planning and financing attacks against the Iraqi people, Iraqi security forces and multinational forces," O'Brien said.

Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6A5C079E-C2B2-4AAC-958E-71F09065413C.htm

Eleven people have died in a US air strike on a house in the flashpoint Iraqi city of Falluja, doctors say.
Hospital sources said women and children were among the dead.

The US military said the air strikes targeted positions used by about 25 fighters loyal to a top al-Qaeda suspect, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In Tikrit, another militant stronghold, US-led forces arrested a former senior commander of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, Sufyan Maher Hassan.


The US military said the former major-general, who commanded units defending Baghdad during the US-led invasion, was suspected of planning attacks against Iraqis and coalition forces. He was detained on Friday by US troops and the Iraqi National Guard.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3904151.stm

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Iraq have launched an air strike on suspected guerrillas allied to al Qaeda in the rebellious city of Falluja, and local doctors said at least 12 people were killed.

The U.S. army said in a statement on Sunday that Iraq's interim government had authorised "a strike against a known terrorist fighting position in southern Falluja".

Around 25 fighters loyal to Jordanian militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi were in the area just before the attack, it said.

The suspected al Qaeda ally's organisation claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings on Saturday, including one that just missed killing Iraq's justice minister.

The air strike, at around 2 a.m. (11 p.m. British time on Saturday), "destroyed defensive fighting positions and trench lines near the remains of a house and a foreign fighter checkpoint", the U.S. military said.

Doctor Ahmed Ghanem told Reuters at least 12 people were killed, including women and children.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrived in Baghdad for talks with ministers. He is the most senior U.S. official to visit since the handover of sovereignty on June 28.

A key issue in the handover was the role the new government would play in overseeing the 160,000 mostly U.S. troops in Iraq and notably in authorising strikes such as that in Falluja.

The U.S. Marine Corps pulled out of the city west of Baghdad after weeks of fierce fighting in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis. Critics of the withdrawal say the city has since become a haven for insurgents and foreign fighters.

Several times over the past two months the U.S. military has launched air strikes on buildings in Falluja which it says are safe houses for militants loyal to Zarqawi, who is accused of masterminding a series of suicide attacks over the past year.

Washington calls Zarqawi its prime enemy in Iraq and has put a $25 million price on his head.

His Tawhid and Jihad group claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings on Saturday -- the attack on the convoy carrying the justice minister that killed five bodyguards and a blast that killed a National Guard soldier south of Baghdad.

HOSTAGES

Zarqawi's group has also beheaded an American and a South Korean hostage, and said last week it had killed one of two Bulgarians it had kidnapped. Hopes are fading that the second Bulgarian is alive, diplomats say.

Guerrillas in Iraq are also holding a Filipino and an Egyptian hostage, both truck drivers, but there are indications both may soon be freed.

The Philippines said it would complete the withdrawal of its military contingent from Iraq on Monday, a move aimed at saving the life of hostage Angelo de la Cruz, a father of eight.

Washington had urged the Philippines not to bow to terrorism and Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has asked foreign countries with forces in Iraq to stand firm.

The captors of the Egyptian hostage said they would release him on Sunday after the Saudi transport company he worked for pledged to stop doing business in Iraq.

In Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, a car bomb killed a policeman and wounded another on Sunday morning. Guerrillas have repeatedly attacked Iraqi security forces as well as foreign troops.

Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka visited Polish troops who lead a multinational battalion in south-central Iraq. He said Poland's military presence in Iraq would be substantially reduced in 2005.

Confronted with growing public opposition to Poland's military presence in Iraq, the government has repeatedly said it expected to be able to scale down its military presence in Iraq after elections there scheduled for early next year.

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