U.S. Continues to Target Militants With Airstrikes in Fallouja

The U.S. military launched another airstrike early today against a suspected hide-out of alleged terrorist mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi in Fallouja. It was the fourth attack in a month against suspected insurgency targets in the city.

Fallouja residents contacted by telephone said U.S. jets fired missiles at a house on the eastern side of the city. Dr. Loai Ali of Fallouja General Hospital said four people were killed and 10 injured.

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for U.S.-led forces, said the attack was launched after “multiple confirmations of Iraqi and multinational intelligence.”

“This operation employed precision weapons to attack the safe house and underscores the resolve of multinational and Iraqi security forces to jointly destroy terrorist networks within Iraq,” Kimmitt said.

He did not mention casualties or provide other details.

U.S. forces have mounted three airstrikes against suspected terrorist targets in the last two weeks. On Friday, U.S. jets pounded a suspected hide-out of Zarqawi, killing up to 25 people, U.S. officials said.

Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant said to be connected to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, is suspected of masterminding a series of coordinated attacks on police and security forces last week that killed more than 100 people.

He is also believed to be behind the beheading of two hostages, an American and a South Korean.

U.S. authorities Wednesday increased to $25 million the reward for information leading to Zarqawi’s arrest. The previous offer was $10 million.

Osama bin Laden has a $50-million bounty on his head.

Fallouja is believed to have become a stronghold of Zarqawi’s Jamaat al Tawhid wal Jihad, or Unity and Jihad movement, since Marines lifted their three-week siege in April and handed security over to a local force commanded by former officers from Saddam Hussein’s army.

Residents say the city is now under the control of radical clerics and their armed followers. The Unity and Jihad movement claimed responsibility for the beheading of American Nicholas Berg and South Korean Kim Sun Il.

Meanwhile, police imposed a 9-p.m.-to-6-a.m. curfew on the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, a day after discovering about 150 pounds of explosives in a car, police Brig. Ghalib Jazaari said. A Libyan who allegedly entered Iraq from neighboring Syria to fight U.S. forces was detained in connection with the incident, he said.