Smiling Faces
Four Iraqis were killed and six injured in US air raids on the al-Askary neighbourhood, east of Falluja, on Friday as the town braced for a further US assault.
The US marines announced they were preparing for a "decisive" assault on Falluja and the city of Ramadi even as the country's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, issued another ultimatum to the town's residents.
In Ramadi, west of Baghdad, fierce clashes erupted between Iraqi fighters and US troops at the eastern entrance of the city. Medical sources in Ramadi hospital said two women were injured in the clashes.
Into Ramadi
Also on Friday, U.S. marines announced that they were preparing for a major assault to 'whack rebels' in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.
"We are gearing up for a major operation," Brigadier General Denis Hajlik told reporters at a base near the rebel- held city of Fallujah. "If we do so, it will be decisive and we will whack them."
Colin Brown and Kim Sengupta/Independent 30.Oct.04
