U.S. Airstrike in Fallujah Kills 14 BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the sixth U.S. airstrike since last month, American jets Sunday hit a position in Fallujah purportedly used by foreign militants, demolishing a house and killing 14 people, hospital and local officials said.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gave the go-ahead for the attack, according to his office and the U.S. military. In previous strikes, the United States said it was targeting safehouses used by the network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant blamed for masterminding car bombings and other attacks in Iraq (news - web sites). The latest attack targeted foreign militants' "fighting positions and trench lines near the remains of a house," according to a statement by U.S. Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel. About 25 fighters were there just before the attack, he said, citing Iraqi and coalition intelligence sources. Local residents said the attack destroyed a house filled with civilians. Allawi has promised strong cooperation with the Americans in rooting out terrorism and said after a July 5 airstrike in Fallujah that his government had provided the intelligence for the strike. Allawi consulted with U.S. forces Saturday about the strike, his office said. "The multinational force asked Prime Minister Allawi for permission to launch strikes on some specific places where some terrorists were hiding," an official in Allawi's office said on condition of anonymity. "Allawi gave his permission," Explosions from the strike about 2 a.m.rocked the city. Scores of people ran to the scene and dug through the wreckage looking for survivors. One witness, who declined to give his name, said the house belonged to a "very poor family." Angry crowds gathered around the house, chanting "God is great." "We heard the sound of jetfighters and then we heard four explosions in the house occupied by civilian residents," Lt. Saad Khalaf of the Fallujah Brigade, the local defense force. Body parts were scattered around the scene; some remains were stacked and covered by a gray blanket. The attack killed 14 people and injured three, according to Saad al- Amili, a Health Ministry official. U.S. Marines besieged Fallujah, a hotbed of resistance, for several weeks last spring and then handed over security to the new Fallujah Brigade, made up of local residents and commanded by officers from Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s former army. Many of those who fought the Marines joined the brigade. Over the past 15 months, militants have used car bombs, sabotage, kidnappings and other attacks to try to destabilize the country. In response to demands made by militants holding a Filipino truck driver, Philippine leaders said Sunday they would finish withdrawing troops from Iraq this week. The pullout, engineered to save the life of Angelo dela Cruz, was scheduled to end as early as Monday, when the 22 remaining members of the humanitarian contingent were to make an "exit call" on the new Polish commander at their base south of Baghdad, Philippine Foreign Minister Delia Albert said. "After the call, the remaining contingent will then proceed to Kuwait, and from there, return to Manila by commercial flight," Albert said. The United States and Australia have sharply criticized the withdrawal, arguing that caving in to terrorists will only encourage more kidnappings and endanger other members of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Insurgents have taken dozens of hostages in hopes of accomplishing their goals. In their continuing effort to quash the insurgency, U.S. forces said Sunday they had detained a senior commander of Saddam's elite Republican Guard, who was suspected of planning and financing attacks against Iraqis, Iraqi security forces and coalition troops. Iraqi national guardsmen and coalition forces captured Sufyan Maher Hassan in a raid in Tikrit on Friday. He was being held at a local multinational force detention facility, said Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division. Hassan was the Republican Guard commander responsible for units defending Baghdad during the war. A relative of former leader Saddam Hussein, Hassan was blamed for the quick fall of Baghdad. In recent weeks, insurgents also have stepped up attacks on local officials and police, whom they view as collaborators with the U.S.- led coalition forces. Two car bombs targeting police exploded in the city of Tikrit on Sunday morning, killing two police officers and wounding five others, Iraqi authorities said. Tikrit was Saddam's hometown and remains a hotbed of the violent resistance against U.S. forces. One car bomb exploded near Tikrit's Albu-Ajil police station, killing two police and wounding two others, according to Iraqi police Lt. Nabil Abdel-Hamid. Another car bomb exploded near a police training center, wounding three officers, according to Iraqi police Capt. Louai Qahtan. The violence Sunday came a day after a suicide car bomber targeted Justice Minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan's convoy, killing five bodyguards but leaving him unharmed. In a second suicide bombing Saturday, attackers hit the Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 47, hospital officials said. Al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for both attacks, the latest in a series targeting high-level government officials. The bombings also seemed a deliberate effort by insurgents to mark the anniversary of the coup that brought Saddam's political party to power in 1968. "There are people who want to stop the progress of democracy in this country," said U.S. Army Col. Michael Formica, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade, who spoke to reporters at the scene of the attack on al-Hassan. A wave of attacks hit Iraqi forces Saturday, including one that killed a police chief south of Baghdad and injured at least eight other police officers. In other violence, a roadside bomb exploded Saturday as a U.S. convoy passed in Beiji, about 90 miles south of the northern city of Mosul, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding another, the U.S. military said in a statement. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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