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52
Iraqis Killed In Fallujah, 12 Marines In Ramadi
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The
incursion reduced at least five houses to rubble
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BAGHDAD,
April 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least 52 Iraqi
civilians, including women and children, were killed and some 100
others injured overnight in continued American bombardment of
densely-populated areas in the besieged town of Fallujah.
The
ghastly raid came as 12 Marines were killed and 24 injured in grinding
battles with Iraqi fighters in Ramadi, 110km west of Baghdad.
The
shelling of Fallujah was resumed in the small hours of Wednesday,
April 7, but there are no immediate reports about any casualties.
Media
reports said an American helicopter gunship was shut down in Golan
neighborhood, which came under heavy bombardment overnight.
At
10:15 am (0615 GMT), 200 marines were engaged in a major firefight
with Iraqi fighters around a Fallujah mosque, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Heavy
rocket and machine-gun fire could be heard while black smoke billowed
into the air as marines took cover behind abandoned metal shops and
debris in the streets.
"I
think this is worst than the first one (the war last year),"
Richard Savick, a veteran of the Gulf War, told AFP.
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A
baby injured by the raid
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Marines
were using aggressive tactics to draw out the fighters and then chase
them.
"We
chased them; we keep it as aggressive as possible," Corporal Jay
Picard.
The
raid brings the total death toll among Iraqis in Fallujah to at least
67 over the past two days, reported Aljazeera.
Marines
battled Iraqis wearing black fatigues or civilian clothes, with their
faces shrouded by headscarves, after tanks, amphibious assault
vehicles and Humvees rolled into the town late Monday, April 5.
All
day Tuesday, the sounds of exploding mortar rounds and of machine-gun
fire shook the city as fighters ran in packs of four or five,
appearing out of alleys and on roof tops, spraying bullets and
shooting off rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).
Iraqi
fighters put
up Tuesday tough resistance to the occupation troops, forcing
them to pull back to the outskirts of the conflictive city.
TV
footage showed the havoc wrecked by the grisly U.S. incursion, which
reduced several houses to rubble and destroyed scores of shops, the
main source of livelihood for many residents in the town, 50km west of
Baghdad.
The
only hospital in the city was shelled Monday, April 5, by U.S.
helicopters.
Doctors
said the situation is extremely serious as some of the injured have
bled to death, the Doha-based newscaster added.
Fallujah
residents appealed to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and
the international community to intervene and end the crippling U.S.
blockade.
The
town had been sealed
off at dawn Monday and U.S. troops were only letting cars with
Fallujah license plates enter or leave the town.
The
offensive, dubbed "Vigilant Resolve", involves two marine
battalions, or more than 2,000 troops, based near Fallujah, a bastion
of anti-occupation resistance.
It
coincides with deadly
clashes between Shiites and U.S.-led occupation troops across
the country, which killed at least 100 people and injured some 400
others.
12
Marines Killed
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Iraqi
fighters sniff through the rubble
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Meanwhile,
at least 12 U.S. Marines were killed and 24 others wounded Tuesday
night, in fierce battles with Iraqi fighters in Ramadi.
It
was the highest single-day casualty toll suffered by US forces since
the beginning of the year, reported AFP.
Between
60 and 70 Iraqi fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and
automatic weapons engaged with the U.S. occupation troops, already
burdened with tough resistance in nearby Fallujah.
"We
had about 12 dead and a couple dozen wounded," said a Pentagon
official, who requested anonymity.
"We're
pretty sure we got most of them in much greater numbers than us,"
he argued.
Eight
U.S. soldiers were killed and eight wounded in separate attacks around
chaos-mired Baghdad over the past 48 hours.
The
deaths raised to at least 628 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in
resistance operations in Iraq since last year's U.S.-led invasion,
according to an AFP tally.
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