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FALLUJAH, July 30: At least 13 Iraqis were killed and a dozen wounded in overnight clashes between US troops and insurgents in the flash point of Fallujah, west of the capital, hospital sources and police said on Friday.
The US military said earlier that it targeted insurgents in Fallujah on Thursday night with artillery and air fire after they attacked a marine position in the city with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.
Marines first responded with tanks and artillery fire, it said, adding that there were no marine casualties and "no information about any insurgent losses." he US military has carried out at least seven air strikes over the past month on suspected hideouts of loyalists of alleged Al Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, most of them in southern Fallujah.
Two raids in early July killed 23 people. Zarqawi, who is blamed for some of the bloodiest car bombs and attacks in Iraq, has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.
Mohammed said later that eight people, including five children were admitted to hospital on Friday with wounds when US troops clashed with gunmen near homes in Khaldiya, west of Fallujah, and fired at a depot of old military equipment in the city. There was no immediate confirmation of either incident from the US military.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Militants threatening to kill seven foreign hostages in Iraq have extended their Friday deadline indefinitely, India's state-run television network Doordarshan reported.
Three of the seven truck drivers being held by a militant group are Indians working for a Kuwaiti transport firm. The abductors, who call themselves Holders of the Black Banner, have demanded that the transport company withdraw from Iraq.
Doordarshan reported on Friday that the hostages' Kuwaiti employer had let the Indian government know that the abductors had agreed to extend the deadline. The Indian government issued another appeal on Friday morning for the release of the three Indians.
India's minister of state for external affairs, E. Ahmed, said the government was 'deeply disturbed' by the threat to the hostages, whom he said should be freed as they were 'poor people' who were not working for the occupation forces in Iraq.
The appeal came hours after the abductors sent videos to news organizations threatening to kill one of the hostages on Friday. The seven hostages include three Kenyans and an Egyptian. The Indian government's crisis management group is monitoring the situation closely.
The Foreign Ministry on Thursday also put out an advisory warning Indians against travelling to Iraq. Meanwhile, protests were snowballing in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, home to one of the truckers. People took to the streets in the town of Una and capital Shimla complaining that the government should do more for the release of the men. -dpa / AFP
