Reply #5: Update: 60 killed

[ze_dscherman]

U.S. Says Kills 60 Foreign Fighters in Iraq Strike

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes bombed rebel targets near the restive Iraqi city of Falluja on Thursday, killing about 60 foreign fighters, the U.S. military said on Friday.

Doctors at a Falluja hospital said 16 civilians were killed in an air strike, including women and children. Reuters television images showed bloodied bodies on hospital beds.

A statement from the U.S. military said the assault was part of a "precision strike" on an compound used by militants loyal to Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a man Washington says is allied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

SNIP

U.S. forces have carried out around a dozen air strikes over recent weeks on Falluja, a Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad which has fallen into rebel hands. The U.S. offensive is part of a push to retake pockets controlled by insurgents ahead of national elections set for January.

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6261081