Iraq: U.S. Warplanes Hammer Fallujah

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."

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.