10/22/2004 12:40:00 PM GMT
U.S. forces continued its deadly air strikes in rebel-held city, Fallujah, the U.S. command said Friday.
Meanwhile, the occupation forces and Iraqi resistance engaged in fierce clashes on the outskirts of Fallujah.
Overnight, Iraqi fighters fired small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at U.S. forces, who fired back fiercely with ground fire and deadly airstrikes.
According to hospital officials in Fallujah eight people were killed and two wounded in the latset U.S. deadly strikes.
On Friday, the U.S. military said that "combat operations" have not started yet and that American forces have not entered Fallujah.
Late in Thursday, U.S. warplanes fired missiles at one house in Fallujah, claiming that it was a suspected militant site where "20 armed invidividuals were seen moving crates and equipment from house to house".
Shortly after that multiple smaller explosions were heard. The military said it had no information on anti-Iraq forces killed.
The U.S. army has stepped up its violence in the rebel stronghold city, by about 25 percent since the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslims holy month that began last Friday, with deadly air strikes that claimed the lives of several civilians, including women and children.
American commanders hinted that the U.S.-Iraqi forces will launch a new offensive ahead of Iraq's January elections, saying that the operation will be aimed at suppressing armed resistance in Iraq, specially the stronghold of Fallujah, where peace negotiations with city leaders have collapsed during the past two weeks.
On Thursday, Sunni leaders called on Allawi’s government to try to reach a peaceful solution to the military standoff around the city and order the U.S. military to stop its deadly, almost daily air strikes.
Fallujah community leaders also issued a statement demanding compensation for the damaged residential buildings and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the city's outskirts.
On the same day, Al-Arabiya television said that the Iraqi government has refused their demands.