At least 15 killed as US battles insurgents in Iraq

10.10am UPDATE

FALLUJA, Iraq - US troops fought running battles with insurgents in the Iraqi flashpoint town of Falluja on Friday, the clashes killing a US Marine, an Iraqi cameraman and at least six other civilians.

Falluja, about 60km west of Baghdad, is known for its fierce hostility to the US-led occupation. Insurgents fought US troops in the town for several hours, but it was unclear what sparked the violence.

Doctors at Falluja hospital said at least six civilians were killed. One said eight. Reuters Television footage showed a boy wounded in the head screaming in pain as doctors bandaged him.

"It was a bloody day in Falluja," doctor Mohammad Daham told Reuters Television. "We have been receiving casualties in great numbers."

The US military said a Marine was also killed in the town and several wounded. The Marines have recently arrived in Falluja, replacing the 82nd Airborne division as part of a major US troop rotation in Iraq.

The Marine's death brought the number of US troops killed by hostile actions since the start of the war to 400.

With less than 100 days to go until the handover, US officials are at pains to stress the improvements on the ground in Iraq since they invaded and occupied the country last year, citing mended water and electricity supplies, reopened schools and large numbers of new Iraqi security forces on the streets.

But security remains the main concern for most Iraqis. Insurgents have increasingly targeted civilians, Iraqi security forces and Iraqis working with Western organisations, seeing them as softer targets than US troops.

Four members of the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC), a paramilitary force working alongside US troops and police, were killed during a morning raid near Tikrit.

In Baghdad, a series of night-time blasts wounded at least nine people.

The region the Marines cover around Falluja, west of the capital, is notorious for strong resistance to the occupation and frequent attacks on US soldiers. Residents say US troops are heavy handed, often firing randomly when they come under attack.

Burhan Mohammed Mazhour, a freelance Iraqi cameraman working for US television network ABC, was shot in the head covering Friday's clashes. Witnesses said he was fired on by US troops.

The US military in Baghdad said it had no immediate information about the incident, or the fighting in Falluja.

Several explosions, apparently from mortar bombs fired by guerrillas, echoed through the streets, which were deserted apart from ambulances and US military vehicles.

A mosque loudspeaker broadcast the call to Friday prayers, but residents had to stay in their homes.

The latest violence coincided with the arrival of a United Nations team sent to Iraq to help work out details of the planned transfer of sovereignty back to Iraqis on June 30.

Electoral experts arrived in Baghdad on Friday, to look at the technicalities of holding elections for a transitional assembly, due by the end of January according to an interim constitution.

They will be joined late next week by another team, led by former Algerian foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi, which will focus on the shape of the interim government that assumes power from the handover until those elections.

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq