- FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- U.S.
warplanes and tanks bombarded targets in Fallujah on Saturday and U.S.
forces exchanged gunfire with insurgents on the city's eastern outskirts
and the main highway that runs to neighboring Jordan, witnesses said.
-
- Fourteen people were wounded in the violence, including
eight children, said Dr. Ali Khamis of Fallujah General Hospital.
-
- The attacks struck the city's eastern al-Askari neighborhood
as well as the industrial area at the eastern entrance of Fallujah. At
least four homes were destroyed and people were seen being rushed to hospital.
-
- Lt. Col. Thomas V. Johnson, a Marine spokesman, said
U.S. troops based on the edge of Fallujah had been attacked.
-
- "One of our positions near Fallujah has been taking
sporadic fire," Johnson said. "Marines countered with tanks and
artillery."
-
- Witnesses said the air raids began at 7 p.m. and clashes
between the two sides continued for several hours. Smoke could be seen
billowing into the air and fire blazed in the sky after the strikes.
-
- Johnson said one fire in the city had been sparked by
a U.S. strike and was "believed to be related to a hit on a significant
weapons cache."
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- U.S. forces have repeatedly carried out airstrikes in
Fallujah, west of Baghdad, since Marines ended a three-week siege of the
city in April aimed at rooting out Sunni Muslim insurgents.
-
- On Friday, U.S. airstrikes targeted the same neighborhoods,
killing three people and wounding 13 others, including a 6-year-old girl,
medical officials said.
-
- The military said Friday's attack had targeted an anti-aircraft
gun mounted on the back of a truck that attempted to fire on a U.S. plane.
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