 US forces hammered rebel positions in Iraq's Sunni Muslim hotbeds of Fallujah and Ramadi, killing 11 people, as the disarming of Shiite militiamen gathered pace in Baghdad despite US warnings of internal rifts. As the US military went on the offensive Tuesday in the Sunni heartland of Iraq, an Islamist group, Ansar Al-Sunna, posted a video on the Internet showing the beheading of a Shiite Iraqi man it accused of spying for US forces.
| Well, that should certainly stop the offensive... |
US warplanes struck Fallujah, the epicenter of the Sunni Muslim rebellion, three times and raided at least seven mosques in Ramadi, arresting a senior cleric. Warplanes dropped a 500-pound (250-kilo) bomb on insurgents on the eastern fringes of the city after a firefight late Tuesday, a military spokesman said. A first raid targeted Al-Haj Hussein restaurant in central Fallujah, famous across central Iraq for its kebabs. Four people were killed and six wounded, including restaurant staff, hospital sources said.
| Bet the take-out business goes up tomorrow. |
The US military said it was a known meeting place for Iraq's most wanted militant, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, and his radical Unity and Holy War group. Four hours later, US aircraft returned to strike the battle-scarred city, destroying a suspected Zarqawi hideaway, the military said. Also in the restive Al-Anbar province of western Iraq, US marines and Iraqi forces carried out predawn raids on at least seven mosques in Ramadi, sparking shootouts in which two Iraqis were killed, the military and hospital sources said. The Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni body which represents 3,000 mosques, said the Americans and Iraqis had arrested their representative for Al-Anbar province, Sheikh Abdul al-Aleem al-Sadi, and his son. The organisation said troops had raided 30 mosques across Ramadi, but the US marines had no immediate confirmation. |