US continues air strikes on Fallujah
US marines clashed with several groups of insurgents on the outskirts of the rebel bastion of Fallujah and launched air strikes at militant targets.
Militants fired small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at US forces, who hit back with ground fire and air strikes last night.
Hospital officials in Fallujah reported that eight people were killed and two wounded in the fighting.
The military said today that “combat operations” have not begun and American forces have not entered the city. Coalition forces are still conducting “security operations,” the military said.
Last night’s air strike hit one suspected militant site where “20 armed individuals were seen moving crates and equipment from house to house,” the US military said.
Multiple secondary explosions were seen but the military said it had no information on anti-Iraq forces killed.
Attacks across the country have increased by about 25% since the beginning of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that began last weekend, with mostly car bombs and strikes on civilians rather than direct assaults on US forces, Pentagon officials said.
American commanders have spoken of a new offensive ahead of Iraq’s crucial elections in January aimed at suppressing insurgents who control a number of central Sunni Muslim cities, particularly the stronghold of Fallujah, where peace negotiations with city leaders have broken down.
The British government has agreed to a US request to transfer 850 troops from the First Battalion, Black Watch Regiment from southern Iraq to an area near Baghdad so American soldiers could be shifted to insurgent hotspots.
Fallujah leaders have called on the Iraqi government to pursue a peaceful solution to the military stand-off around the city and order a halt to frequent air strikes.
They also issued a list of other demands, including compensation for damaged property and withdrawing US. troops from the city’s outskirts. Fallujah leaders want any Iraqi military units which deploy into the city to consist exclusively of local men.
But Al-Arabiya television reported that the Iraqi government had rejected the demands.
