US forces have carried out another air strike on the rebellious Iraqi city of Falluja, the third in 24 hours. They bombed a building which they said was being used by insurgents as a weapons store. The attack is said to have happened as up to 15 suspected militants were moving ammunition and weapons, probably killing most of those present. The US military said its attack on Falluja had severely damaged the targeted building, and triggered a wave of secondary explosions that indicated ammunition was being stored inside. (Bingo!)
In a statement, it said 10 to 15 rebels suspected of links with Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were in the area at the time. "A large number of enemy fighters are presumed killed," it added. Two civilians were killed and 10 injured in the air strikes, the city's hospital said, while another two civilians were killed and two more wounded when a US tank fired on a house in the city's southern suburbs.
Earlier, American and Iraqi government forces said they had secured about 70% of Samarra, although they were still meeting some resistance. The Americans say more than 125 insurgents have been killed and 88 detained during the two-day assault on the city, but local doctors report that many civilians have been caught up in the fighting. "It is over in Samarra," Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan said in an interview with Arab television network al-Arabiya. He said up to $40m was being allocated for reconstruction and compensation to residents of the embattled city. Reports say residents of Samarra - which lies on the main highway from Baghdad to northern Iraq - are too afraid to venture out. Witnesses in the centre of the city have spoken of American snipers shooting at anyone who appeared on the streets. Some 5,000 troops poured into Samarra during Friday in one of the biggest offensives since the invasion of Iraq.