BAGHDAD, March 23 (PL).— US occupation forces’ fighter planes have attacked civilian populations in the Iraqi cities of Haditha and Haqlaniyah, in the western province of Al Anbar, one of the key regions of the so-called Sunni Triangle or "Triangle of Death".
Despite the fact that the US command denied today that it had carried out aerial operations against these cities, eye witnesses and those wounded confirmed the attacks by the foreign air force.
The bombings followed a resistance attack on US forces close to Haditha hospital, which left four people injured, affirmed medical sources.
For several hours, security guards at the hospital were detained by US soldiers, they explained.
Despite constant attacks by the US occupation troops to neutralize guerrillas in Al Anbar, this Wednesday a new rebel attack was reported at a foreign military base in the city of Ramadi, the provincial capital.
According to media channels, the installation was attacked with mortar bombs, although the damage to life and property caused by the impact of the blast is still unknown.
US soldiers immediately closed the roads leading to Ramadi with the aim of detaining the attackers in case they attempted to leave the city.
The media has described the cities of Ramadi, Fallujah and Haditha as hotbeds for the resistance and all of them have come under fierce attack by US troops.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior affirmed that Iraqi Special Forces and US troops attacked a guerrilla camp and killed more than 80 rebels in the northern city of Tikrit.
In a communiqué, the institution added that just seven of its troops had lost their lives.
Colonel Mohammad Ibrahim said that the fighting lasted for 17 hours, beginning at midday on Tuesday and ending in the early hours of this morning.
However, after confirming the event in a text circulated on the Internet, resistance fighters in Tikrit rejected the official number of casualties and affirmed that 11 guerrillas had died and the number of troops killed was higher than the official total.
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