US warplances strike militant bases in Fallujah

US forces launched airstrikes against suspected militant bases in Fallujah and carried out probing attacks on the city’s outskirts, as they prepared for a major operation in the insurgent bastion that has become the symbol of Iraqi resistance.

US planners believe many of Fallujah’s 300,000 residents have already fled the city, where militants last spring ambushed and killed four American contractors, mutilated their bodies and hung them from a bridge.

US and Iraqi authorities want to curb the increasingly violent Sunni Muslim insurgency in order to hold nationwide elections by January 31. Up to 5,000 Islamic militants, Saddam Hussein loyalists and common criminals are hunkered down in Fallujah, US officers said.

American officials stress that the final order to launch a big operation would come from Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who has warned Fallujah to hand over followers of terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or face attack.

Allawi has issued no such order, but preparations are clearly underway, including the movement of British soldiers into areas close to Baghdad so that American forces can be redeployed for a showdown.

“We’re gearing up to do an operation and when were told to go, we’ll go,” Brig. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said at a camp near Fallujah. “When we do go, we’ll whack them.”

Insurgents have stepped up attacks across Iraq by 25% since the start of the holy month of Ramadan two weeks ago, mainly targeting Iraqi security forces.

Witnesses said today that Iraqi forces opened fire on six vehicles, including three minibuses, after a US convoy came under attack in the central Iraqi town of Haswa, south of Baghdad, killing or injuring more than a dozen people.

After the US troops pulled out, Iraqi police and National Guards arrived on the scene. Witnesses said Iraqi troops opened fire randomly and used hand grenades, hitting three minibuses and three trucks.

Doctor Salah al-Janabi of Iskandariyah General Hospital said the hospital received at least 11 bodies, and at least another 15 people were injured. He said more casualties could have been taken to other hospitals.

In a separate incident gunmen fired on a police convoy just outside Baghdad, causing one of the vehicles to burst into flames, police said. Witnesses said they saw three policemen trapped inside the burning vehicle, but officials did not give a casualty toll.

Also, a US military patrol came under gunfire when it stopped to aid Iraqis hit by a roadside bomb.

The bomb detonated yesterday evening, injuring three civilians, and a US patrol in the area stopped to give aid and came under attack by small arms fire. Two more Iraqi civilians were wounded in the firefight. No American soldiers were wounded.

Meanwhile, Marines have been hitting Fallujah with frequent airstrikes, targeting buildings believed used by al-Zarqawi’s followers. Marines have also launched probing attacks into Fallujah’s outskirts to test insurgent defences, Marine Col. Mike Shupp said.

A US warplane fired at a house in the eastern Askari district of Fallujah last night. Firefighter Salam Hameed said five bodies were pulled from under the rubble. Another four people were injured.

Yesterday, a Sunni cleric in Baghdad, Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaei, warned the Americans and Iraqis against launching a full-scale attack on Fallujah. If they do, he said Sunni clerics in the capital will issue a fatwa, or a binding religious decree, ordering Muslims to launch street protests and a campaign of civil disobedience.