FALLUJAH, September 30, 2004 – U.S. forces on Thursday attacked a suspected safehouse used by an al-Qaeda linked group in Fallujah, the military said. Hospital officials said at least four Iraqis were killed and eight wounded.

Also, witnesses said U.S. forces opened fire Wednesday on a car passing Fallujah on the road west from Baghdad. The driver was shot in the head and lost control of the car, which plunged into a canal, said witness Hussein Alwan, who lives near the scene.

A man was brought to Fallujah General Hospital late Wednesday with a bullet wound to the head, Dr. Ahmed Khalil said. Later, the bodies of two women and five children arrived.

U.S. military officials, called repeatedly by The Associated Press, said they had no immediate information on the incident. But the military has repeatedly cautioned about the unreliability of information about casualties from Iraqis in Fallujah, a Sunni insurgent stronghold.

Intelligence reports indicated the house attacked by U.S. forces on Thursday was being used by followers of Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the military said in a statement, adding that the followers were planning attacks against U.S.-led forces and Iraqi citizens.

"Significant secondary explosions were observed during the impact indicating a large cache of illegal ordinance was stored in the safe house," the statement said. Explosions continued in the northeastern side of the city for hours.

Witnesses said two houses were flattened and four others damaged in the strike.

At least four Iraqis were killed – including two women and one child – and eight wounded, Khalil said.

"Multinational forces take great care to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties," the military said in the statement. "Terrorists' placement of weapons caches in homes, schools, hospitals and mosques continue to put innocent civilians at risk."

American jets, tanks and artillery units have repeatedly targeted al-Zarqawi's network in Fallujah in recent weeks as U.S.-led forces seek to assert control over insurgent enclaves ahead of elections slated for January. The military says the attacks have inflicted significant damage on the network, which has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, kidnappings and other attacks.

Doctors say scores of civilians have been killed and wounded in the strikes.

U.S. ground forces have not entered Fallujah since ending a three-week siege of the city in April that left hundreds dead.

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iraq-fallujah.html