FALLUJAH, April 28: United States aircraft pounded suspected guerilla positions in Fallujah for a second day on Wednesday, but US commanders said they were still committed to ongoing peace talks.
Helicopters and planes rained missile and machinegun fire onto several buildings after heavy battles broke out in the north of the besieged city.
Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the buildings as the helicopters made repeated raids and US marine snipers fired high-velocity rifle rounds at unknown targets in the apparently deserted streets.
But Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt of the US Army, speaking to reporters in Baghdad, insisted the marines were "rigidly adhering" to a fragile ceasefire and remained committed to resolving the standoff peacefully.
"If this can be solved by not putting our soldiers' or marines' lives at risk so much the better," he said, referring to talks between the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) representatives and local community leaders.
"There is still a determined aspiration on the part of the coalition to maintain the ceasefire and resolve this situation by peaceful means." But he warned that marines, who he said killed two guerillas in battles overnight, were prepared to resume operations, unilaterally suspended earlier this month, at a moment's notice.
"There is certainly no military problem that cannot be solved in Fallujah," he said. Fallujah has been the scene of the fiercest fighting of the occupation of Iraq, with scores of US soldiers and hundreds of Iraqis killed there this month despite the truce.
Marines have besieged Fallujah since April 5 following the murders of four US civilian contractors, which triggered a bloody offensive. The Iraqi health ministry said 280 people - including 24 women and 30 children - had been killed in Fallujah since April 5, but the figures did not seem to include those who had not made it to hospital.
The injured were numbered at 820 - including 56 women and 46 children - the ministry said. The UN refugee agency said some 50,000 residents were estimated to have fled Fallujah, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, to temporary camps, mosques or homes of families elsewhere in the country.
Captain Christopher Logan, a marine spokesman here, said guerillas had engaged "multiple" units on Wednesday and airstrikes were called in to support the troops on the ground. "There were multiple close air support missions requested and conducted," he said as fighter jets screamed overhead.
The Fallujah railway station was among the targets, said Col John Coleman, chief of staff of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Guerilla positions were also pounded in an airstrike on Tuesday night after Iraqi fighters opened fire on US troops with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.
"Marines took rocket-propelled grenade and direct fire and called air support to engage a vehicle transporting weapons and personnel," said marine Major T.V. Johnson. He said a heavily armed AC-130 Spectre plane "hit the target ... the anti-Iraqi forces fled to a nearby building. The aircraft shot at the building".
Marine officials said that in both cases, in addition to the blasts from the air strikes, there were also "massive secondary explosions" that suggested ammunition stockpiles were also struck.
Spectre gunships have previously bombarded guerilla positions in Fallujah but the footage shown live on US television renewed debate about the proportionality of the US forces' military tactics in the town.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair defended the airstrikes, saying US forces retained the right to fight back if attacked. "I deeply regret any civilian deaths in Fallujah, but it is necessary that order is restored and the Americans are trying to do that," he said in the House of Commons during weekly question time.
"If it is the case that American soldiers have been fired on, American soldiers are going to have to fire back and take action to ensure that those insurgents - these former regime elements and terrorists - can't disrupt the political process," he said.
Both sides accuse the other of breaking the ceasefire and US forces insist they only fire in self-defence. The US_led CPA's officials said they planned to stage joint patrols with Iraqi police in the city on Tuesday, but US overseer Paul Bremer said on Iraqi television they had been delayed until Thursday due to problems with training.
Marine officials on the ground said the decision was based on sensitivity for the birthday of Saddam Hussein, which fell on Wednesday. -AFP
