| PAGE TOOLS |
 |
|
|
|
Sign up to receive NewStandard headlines and extras by e-mail weekday mornings!
|
Jul 1, 2004 -
US occupation forces unleashed yet another missile attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah today, reportedly killing 13 people and wounding 10. An Aljazeera correspondent in the city reported that US fighter planes targeted a house in the Al-Jibail neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Fallujah. "The house was completely destroyed. It is basically rubble," a witness said. "The strike left a huge hole where the building was." The bodies of at least four of the victims were pulled from the wreckage of the house.
The US military claims it was attacking a safehouse used by foreign fighters loyal to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, leader of the Al-Tawhid and Al-Jihad organization, which has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly car bombings, as well as the kidnapping and beheading last week of a South Korean contractor. But as with previous airstrikes in Fallujah over the past 10 days, there was no indication that Al-Zarqawi was in or near the targeted building.
According to casualty figures released by the military since June 19, US airstrikes against Fallujah have killed more than 60 of Al-Zarqawi's fighters. But as with previous such strikes, the military has not produced any evidence that any of the victims were foreign fighters. Today the US also raised the reward for information leading to Al-Zarqawi's arrest from $10 million to $25 million.
