FALLUJAH, Sept 13: At least 15 people were killed as US jets spearheaded yet another assault on alleged Al Qaeda fighters in Fallujah on Monday while Iraq's premier warned that key elections may be delayed in areas of unrest.

Meanwhile, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini arrived in Kuwait on an 11th-hour mission to win the release of two Italian women hostages kidnapped last week. On Sunday, an Islamist website published an ultimatum from a group threatening to kill Simona Pari and Simona Torretta unless Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq within 24 hours.

Italy has refused to bow to the demands and it was unclear when the statement was issued or when the deadline would expire. Mr Frattini's Middle East tour came as EU foreign ministers and Iraq's senior Sunni Muslim scholars called for the immediate release of hostages in Iraq.

In the Sunni insurgent hotspot of Fallujah, US troops launched air strikes on aides of Iraq's most wanted man, suspected Al Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. "Intelligence reports indicated that only Zarqawi operatives and associates were at the meeting location at the time of the strike," the US military said.

Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for a string of missile attacks and suicide bombings on Sunday, a bloody day which saw 45 people killed and scores more wounded. -AFP