- "I intend to use AC 130 gunships every night"
on Fallujah, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne told Agence France-Presse
(AFP). . . . Byrne said his troops were "definitely in the killing
business now". . . . "It was rather a massacre in the town overnight.
The U.S. forces dropped the internationally-banned cluster bombs on Fallujah."
. . . "These armed-to-teeth forces are against ordinary people only
defending their town and country," Kubeissi said, adding that ambulance
vehicles were targeted.
-
-
- FALLUJAH (IslamOnline.net
& News Agencies) - At least 15 people were killed and 20 others injured
in overnight U.S. military offensive on Fallujah, according to news reports
Friday, April 16.
-
- As dusk fell U.S. forces exchanged machine gun fire and
bombarded parts of the city with grenade launchers, reported Reuters.
-
- The casualties could be much higher in the densely-populated
town, where more than 300,000 people live.
-
- "I intend to use AC 130 gunships every night"
on Fallujah, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne told Agence France-Presse
(AFP) without giving further details of the attack.
-
- Byrne said his troops were "definitely in the killing
business now".
-
- "It was rather a massacre in the town overnight.
The U.S. forces dropped the internationally-banned cluster bombs on Fallujah,"
Abdel-Salam Al-Kubessi of the Muslim Scholars Association told a press
conference in Baghdad Friday.
-
- Kubeissi, who helped release three Japanese hostages
held by resistance fighters, called what is happening in Fallujah a "series
of massacres".
-
- The American bombardment of Fallujah had claimed the
lives of at least 600 Iraqis over the past few days.
-
- A doctor in the besieged town told IslamOnline.net on
Monday, April 12, that Most of the Iraqis killed in the week-long U.S.
military offensive into the restive town are women and children.
-
- "These armed-to-teeth forces are against ordinary
people only defending their town and country," Kubeissi said, adding
that ambulance vehicles were targeted by the occupation forces and several
people were detained.
-
- U.N. Envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi criticized the U.S.
military practices in Fallujah, saying "collective punishment is certainly
unacceptable and the siege of the city is absolutely unacceptable".
-
- Mosques Hit
-
- Fallujah's second-largest mosque, Hadret Mohammediya,
was shelled earlier Thursday by U.S. forces, according to AFP.
-
- The strike at about 6:30 pm (1430 GMT) destroyed the
top of its minaret and religious school, while parts of its outer wall
were also hit and most of the windows shattered.
-
- Chairman of U.S. joint chiefs of staff Richard Myers
said during a visit to Baghdad that the U.S. siege of Fallujah was "humane"
- much to the outrage of local inhabitants and world viewers watching U.S.
warplanes hitting the densely-populated areas in the town.
-
- But Myers said that new attacks on the town could not
be ruled out despite a truce.
-
- Myers traced a "common thread" between Sunni
fighters in Fallujah and Shiites fighting against occupation.
-
- Fallujah has been under a crippling U.S. siege since
Monday, April 5, as its residents said they are determined to kick out
the occupation troops.
-
- The cooperation between Sunnis and Shiites came painful
to occupation forces, as The U.S. military has lost at least 92 troops
in combat since March 31 - more than the total killed in the three-week
invasion.
-
- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that the
recent U.S. military death toll was beyond expectations.
-
- Refuseniks
-
- In the meantime, Iraqi police deployed alongside U.S.
forces around Fallujah refused to join the offensive in solidarity with
their fellow Iraqis.
-
- Soldiers of the Iraqi Brigade 36 are now besieged by
American forces for three days now because of their refusal to join the
offensive, al-Jazeera said, citing one of the refuseniks.
-
- The head of U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid
hinted that some Iraqi officers do not want to cooperate with U.S. troops
in attacking the city.
-
- More Casualties
-
- In the south, U.S. occupation forces killed two civilians
and injured several others in clashes with Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr,s
Mahdi Army, al-Jazeera reported.
-
- The U.S. forces had reinforced their positions around
Najaf, where Sadr is believed to be staying, but refused to say if the
U.S.-led forces would attack the city to capture the Shiite leader.
-
- Al-Jazeera correspondent said one American soldier was
killed and four others injured in the fierce clashes.
-
- "Najaf is a holy place," Kaysal Hazali, spokesman
for Sadr was quoted as saying.
-
- "If they attack it, God knows the results: It is
not going to be good for the occupation," he said.
-
- http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-04/16/article04.shtml
|
