Fallujah battle kills 16 and forces relief convoy back

FIERCE battles between insurgents and US and Iraqi forces killed at least 16 people yesterday in the latest in a wave of clashes that has swept Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland.

A convoy of ambulances and relief supplies trying to enter Fallujah was forced to turn back because the fighting made it too dangerous, the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent said.

The Red Crescent and Red Cross have been unable to gain access to people inside Fallujah during over a week of violence.