09/13/2004 11:12:00 AM GMT
U.S. has launched fresh air strikes on the Iraqi city Falluja early Monday, killing 9 and wounding 12, hospital officials and witnesses said.
The U.S. military did not comment on the incident.
Dr. Adel Khamis of the Fallujah General Hospital said at least nine people were killed, including women and children, and 12 others were wounded.
Witnesses said that Monday’s air raids damaged buildings at city's al-Shurta neighborhood, sending plumes of black smoke to the sky.
Ambulances and private cars rushed into the scene to save the injured and escort them to the hospital.
The new U.S. offensive comes a day after at least 20 Iraqis were killed in Baghdad in one of the fiercest clashes across Iraq for weeks.
On Sunday, Iraq's interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi affirmed that elections will go ahead as planned in January, even if the current unrest in the country prevented some Iraqis from voting.
According to witnesses, U.S. jets repeatedly swooped low over the city and that artillery units positioned on the outskirts of the city also opened fire.
U.S. air forces have launched repetitive air raids targeting Fallujah over the past weeks.
Witnesses said that hundreds of Iraqi families were forced to leave Falluja after the recent U.S. assaults.
Four people were killed when a missile struck a civilian car driving on a motorway west of Falluja.
U.S. troops, who say foreign fighters use Falluja as a base, have set up checkpoints at the northern, western and southern entrances of the city.
They moreover used loudspeakers calling on Falluja residents to cooperate with them.
The flashpoint Sunni city, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, has witnessed some of the fiercest clashes between Iraqi fighters and U.S. occupation forces.
Last April, U.S. air forces withdrew from Falluja, after ending a three-week siege that left hundreds of Iraqis dead.