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U.S.
Warplanes Hammer Fallujah
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A
mosque minaret destroyed in the raid
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FALLUJAH,
Iraq, April 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S.
warplanes and artillery bombarded Tuesday night, April 27, the Golan
district in the western Iraqi town of Fallujah, badly damaging
buildings and destroying a mosque minaret.
The
air strikes last for at least one hour, sending showers of sparks and
flames into the night sky, Aljazeera television reported.
There
is no official word about the casualties or the damage as the U.S.
occupation troops on the ground denied ambulances access to the area,
said the correspondent of the Doha-based broadcaster on air.
Chanting
of "Allahu Akbar" (God is the Greatest) was heard echoing
from mosques in the neighborhood.
CNN
said that an AC-130 gunship aircraft fired multiple cannon rounds on
the northwest part of the town.
It
said the gunship fired 20 to 25 rounds at a time with powerful
explosions heard on the ground.
The
heavy-armed AC-130 warplanes have previously bombarded suspected
positions over the course of the two-week negotiations between the
Americans and Iraqis over the paralyzing
siege of Fallujah, according to the American newscaster.
The
Doha-based all-news Arab station further said that pitched battles
broke out between Iraqi fighters and the occupation troops, when the
U.S. tanks tried to thrust into the district.
‘Barbaric’
Abdul
Salam Al-Kubeisi, member of the Muslim Scholars Association, said the
"barbaric bombardment" proved that the United States is not
trustworthy.
"They
[U.S. troops] allowed scores of fleeing families to return to their
homes only to take the resistance fighters unawares," he told
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Now
our fears have proved right that the U.S. doesn’t honor its
pledges…They began amassing weapons only to strike back once
again."
U.S.
occupation
troops breached Tuesday, April 13, the ceasefire reached days
before in Fallujah, killing at least nine Iraqis and wounding up to 38
others.
The
U.S.1st Marine Division, however, accused Iraqi fighters of
violating the fragile ceasefire first by attacking Marines.
"Anti-Iraq
forces attacked marines in defensive positions in Fallujah shortly
after 10:00 pm (1800 GMT) tonight," a division spokesman claimed.
"Marines
responded by directing precision weaponry against the enemy forces in
order to defend themselves."
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A
file photo of the heavy-armed AC-130 used in the bombing (AFP)
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The
fresh incursion came as the occupation authorities suspended till
Thursday, April 29, joint patrols with the U.S.-trained new Iraqi
police in Fallujah, claiming that they want to extend a new ceasefire
agreement reached Sunday, April 25.
Mothanna
Harith Al-Dari, another member of the revered body, told
IslamOnlline.net Monday, April 26, that the suspension was a new U.S.
tactic indicating that the occupation troops were resolved to storm
the town.
"The
Americans prefer the military solution to the peaceful one, that’s
it," stressed the scholar.
The
occupation forces stormed Fallujah on April 5, but the relentless
Iraqi resistance forced them to negotiations.
The
American offensive, yet, has claimed so far the lives of at least 700
Iraqis, mostly
women and children, and left up to 1500 others injured,
according to medics in the besieged town.
The
new raid came as press reports revealed Sunday that U.S. President
George W. Bush and his senior national security and military advisers
were expected to decide this weekend whether to order an invasion
of the town.
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