U.S. forces have massed outside of the city since late March, when four U.S. civilian contractors were killed by insurgents and publicly mutilated. Fighting in Al-Fallujah last month was some of the most intense in Iraq since U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in the country last May.
Further north, near Kirkuk, suspected insurgents shot dead a South African and Iraqi in a drive-by shooting today.
In Baghdad, a U.S. warplane today bombed the office of militant Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Sadr City neighborhood. Al-Sadr, who is in Al-Najaf, and his Al-Mahdi militia have been opposing the U.S. occupation.
(Reuters, AFP, dpa)
Further north, near Kirkuk, suspected insurgents shot dead a South African and Iraqi in a drive-by shooting today.
In Baghdad, a U.S. warplane today bombed the office of militant Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Sadr City neighborhood. Al-Sadr, who is in Al-Najaf, and his Al-Mahdi militia have been opposing the U.S. occupation.
(Reuters, AFP, dpa)
