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Massacre in fallujah on april 15 Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-04/16/article04.shtmlhttp://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-04/16/article04.shtml
U.S. Forces Kill 15 In Fresh Fallujah ‘Massacre’: Iraqis
FALLUJAH, April 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 15 people were killed and 20 others injured in overnight U.S. military offensive on Fallujah, according to news reports Friday, April 16.
As dusk fell U.S. forces exchanged machine gun fire and bombarded parts of the city with grenade launchers, reported Reuters.
The casualties could be much higher in the densely-populated town, where more than 300,000 people live.
"I intend to use AC 130 gunships every night" on Fallujah, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne told Agence France-Presse (AFP) without giving further details of the attack.
Byrne said his troops were "definitely in the killing business now".
"It was rather a massacre in the town overnight. The U.S. forces dropped the internationally-banned cluster bombs on Fallujah," Abdel-Salam Al-Kubessi of the Muslim Scholars Association told a press conference in Baghdad Friday.
Kubeissi, who helped release three Japanese hostages held by resistance fighters, called what is happening in Fallujah a "series of massacres".
The American bombardment of Fallujah had claimed the lives of at least 600 Iraqis over the past few days.
A doctor in the besieged town told IslamOnline.net on Monday, April 12, that Most of the Iraqis killed in the week-long U.S. military offensive into the restive town are women and children.
"These armed-to-teeth forces are against ordinary people only defending their town and country," Kubeissi said, adding that ambulance vehicles were targeted by the occupation forces and several people were detained.
U.N. Envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi criticized the U.S. military practices in Fallujah, saying "collective punishment is certainly unacceptable and the siege of the city is absolutely unacceptable".
Mosques Hit
Fallujah's second-largest mosque, Hadret Mohammediya, was shelled earlier Thursday by U.S. forces, according to AFP.
The strike at about 6:30 pm (1430 GMT) destroyed the top of its minaret and religious school, while parts of its outer wall were also hit and most of the windows shattered.
Chairman of U.S. joint chiefs of staff Richard Myers said during a visit to Baghdad that the U.S. siege of Fallujah was "humane" - much to the outrage of local inhabitants and world viewers watching U.S. warplanes hitting the densely-populated areas in the town.
But Myers said that new attacks on the town could not be ruled out despite a truce.
Myers traced a "common thread" between Sunni fighters in Fallujah and Shiites fighting against occupation.
Fallujah has been under a crippling U.S. siege since Monday, April 5, as its residents said they are determined to kick out the occupation troops.
The cooperation between Sunnis and Shiites came painful to occupation forces, as The U.S. military has lost at least 92 troops in combat since March 31 - more than the total killed in the three-week invasion.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that the recent U.S. military death toll was beyond expectations.
Refuseniks
In the meantime, Iraqi police deployed alongside U.S. forces around Fallujah refused to join the offensive in solidarity with their fellow Iraqis.
Soldiers of the Iraqi Brigade 36 are now besieged by American forces for three days now because of their refusal to join the offensive, al-Jazeera said, citing one of the refuseniks.
The head of U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid hinted that some Iraqi officers do not want to cooperate with U.S. troops in attacking the city.
More Casualties
In the south, U.S. occupation forces killed two civilians and injured several others in clashes with Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, al-Jazeera reported.
The U.S. forces had reinforced their positions around Najaf, where Sadr is believed to be staying, but refused to say if the U.S.-led forces would attack the city to capture the Shiite leader.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said one American soldier was killed and four others injured in the fierce clashes.
"Najaf is a holy place," Kaysal Hazali, spokesman for Sadr was quoted as saying.
"If they attack it, God knows the results: It is not going to be good for the occupation," he said.
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