US strike kills 15 Iraqis

FALLUJAH, Iraq – At least 15 people were killed as US jets spearheaded yet another assault on alleged al Qaeda fighters in Fallujah yesterday while Iraq’s premier warned that key elections may be delayed in areas of unrest.

Meanwhile, Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, arrived in Kuwait on an 11th-hour mission to win the release of two Italian women hostages kidnapped by Islamist militants last week. On Sunday, an Islamist website published an ultimatum from a group threatening to kill Simona Pari and Simona Torretta unless Italy withdrew its troops from Iraq within 24 hours.Italy has refused to bow to the demands and it was unclear when the statement was issued or when the deadline would expire.Frattini’s Middle East tour came as EU foreign ministers and Iraq’s senior Sunni Muslim scholars called for the immediate release of hostages in Iraq.In the Sunni insurgent hotspot of Fallujah, US troops launched air strikes on aides of Iraq’s most wanted man, suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, who is accused of masterminding some of the deadliest attacks since the 2003 US-led invasion.”Intelligence reports indicated that only Zarqawi operatives and associates were at the meeting location at the time of the strike,” the US military said.Zarqawi’s group claimed responsibility for a string of missile attacks and suicide bombings on Sunday, a bloody day which saw 45 people killed and scores more wounded across the country.But an undertaker and angry local residents ridiculed US claims that the victims were all Zarqawi’s aides.”So far we received 15 bodies.Among them is an ambulance driver and two nurses, plus five wounded who were in the ambulance when it was bombed,” said undertaker Falah Abdullah.Three pick-up vehicles trucked the bodies to the cemetery, where a crowd of furious grief-stricken relatives washed and buried their loved ones, killed in the pre-dawn and early morning attacks, an AFP correspondent said.Hamid Abbas, 32, said his windscreen smashed when a jet dropped a missile on the car in front.”All of a sudden I heard a powerful explosion.A few seconds later, I saw the car on fire and charred bodies inside.People on the street were in a state of panic,” he said.Medics said at least 20 people were wounded and resident Uday al-Mashadani, 26, said families started fleeing northern Fallujah after the shelling began.US jets have relentlessly attacked the extremist stronghold since seven marines were killed in a car bombing last Monday.”They target peaceful families everyday and every night.Then they say its Zarqawi, weapons of mass destruction or terrorists they are after.Stop this destruction.Stop bombing peaceful civilians,” said Sheikh Hamid Jaddoua.In an interview published in European and US newspapers, prime minister Iyad Allawi admitted that some Iraqis may be unable to vote in crucial general elections, despite vowing they would be held as planned by January.”If for any reason 300 000 people cannot have an election, cannot vote because terrorists decide so, then frankly 300 000 people… is not going to alter 25 million people voting,” he was quoted as saying.- Nampa-AFPOn Sunday, an Islamist website published an ultimatum from a group threatening to kill Simona Pari and Simona Torretta unless Italy withdrew its troops from Iraq within 24 hours.Italy has refused to bow to the demands and it was unclear when the statement was issued or when the deadline would expire.Frattini’s Middle East tour came as EU foreign ministers and Iraq’s senior Sunni Muslim scholars called for the immediate release of hostages in Iraq.In the Sunni insurgent hotspot of Fallujah, US troops launched air strikes on aides of Iraq’s most wanted man, suspected al Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, who is accused of masterminding some of the deadliest attacks since the 2003 US-led invasion.”Intelligence reports indicated that only Zarqawi operatives and associates were at the meeting location at the time of the strike,” the US military said.Zarqawi’s group claimed responsibility for a string of missile attacks and suicide bombings on Sunday, a bloody day which saw 45 people killed and scores more wounded across the country.But an undertaker and angry local residents ridiculed US claims that the victims were all Zarqawi’s aides.”So far we received 15 bodies.Among them is an ambulance driver and two nurses, plus five wounded who were in the ambulance when it was bombed,” said undertaker Falah Abdullah.Three pick-up vehicles trucked the bodies to the cemetery, where a crowd of furious grief-stricken relatives washed and buried their loved ones, killed in the pre-dawn and early morning attacks, an AFP correspondent said.Hamid Abbas, 32, said his windscreen smashed when a jet dropped a missile on the car in front.”All of a sudden I heard a powerful explosion.A few seconds later, I saw the car on fire and charred bodies inside.People on the street were in a state of panic,” he said.Medics said at least 20 people were wounded and resident Uday al-Mashadani, 26, said families started fleeing northern Fallujah after the shelling began.US jets have relentlessly attacked the extremist stronghold since seven marines were killed in a car bombing last Monday.”They target peaceful families everyday and every night.Then they say its Zarqawi, weapons of mass destruction or terrorists they are after.Stop this destruction.Stop bombing peaceful civilians,” said Sheikh Hamid Jaddoua.In an interview published in European and US newspapers, prime minister Iyad Allawi admitted that some Iraqis may be unable to vote in crucial general elections, despite vowing they would be held as planned by January.”If for any reason 300 000 people cannot have an election, cannot vote because terrorists decide so, then frankly 300 000 people… is not going to alter 25 million people voting,” he was quoted as saying.- Nampa-AFP