- US forces have launched an air strike on suspected insurgents
in the Iraqi city of Falluja, the US military says.
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- The military said it targeted militants linked to suspected
al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whom it blames for a string of attacks
in Iraq.
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- A hospital source said five people were injured in the
attack early on Friday morning, including children.
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- In other violence, two US soldiers were killed in a roadside
bombing in the northern city of Samarra.
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- The Associated Press has reported that gunmen in the
northern city of Mosul have attacked and killed a retired Iraqi general
as he headed to a mosque for Friday prayers. He had worked for the former
US-led coalition authority .
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- Major General Salim Majeed Blesh, who had been a top
commander in the Iraqi army, was assassinated along with a neighbour who
was accompanying him, Mosul's chief of police is quoted as saying.
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- Insurgent centre
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- In recent weeks US forces have carried out a series of
air strikes on targets in Falluja, west of Baghdad. The city is considered
a centre for insurgent fighters.
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- The Reuters news agency says that US air strikes on the
city have killed 40 people in the last month.
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- The military said it carried out the attack on between
10 and 12 suspects who were in the courtyard of a house in the city.
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- "The anti-Iraqi forces were struck while in the
courtyard of a house; the house was left intact," the statement said.
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- The US has offered $25m for the capture of Mr Zarqawi,
a Jordanian-born militant it accuses of masterminding a number of massive
suicide bombings in Iraq.
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- He is also said to have been involved in the beheading
of two hostages, American Nick Berg and South Korean Kim Sun-il.
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- Militants linked to Mr Zarqawi have offered a $285,000
reward for the killing of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3919149.stm
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