Iraq: Eight killed in warplane bombs

Early-morning bombing by US warplanes on the largely Sunni city of Samarrah killed at least eight people, Iraqi hospital officials said today.

The US military said a series of 230 kilogram (500lb) bombs were dropped on “known enemy locations” near the city, about 95 kilometres (60 miles) north of Baghdad, in an operation called Cajun Mousetrap III, which began just after midnight on Friday.

The military said about 50 militants were killed in the operation. There were no coalition casualties.

Residents said jet fighters targeted and destroyed two houses in separate districts, but the occupants had evacuated before the bombing began.

About nine Iraqis were killed and 40 injured in the fighting, said Jamal al-Qeilani from Samarrah General Hospital.

The military said soldiers the 1st Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team detained three suspected weapons suppliers and confiscated weapons and bomb-making material during raids on the volatile city, where insurgents have battled coalition troops and Iraqi forces for the past 15 months.