American forces clashed with Iraqi fighters in Fallujah on Friday and stood ready to strike at a Shiite leader in Najaf.
A hospital official told Reuters 15 Iraqis were killed and 20 were injured in overnight clashes that erupted in Fallujah just hours after America's top general said truce talks could not go on for ever and more military force might be necessary.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Paul Bremer, the chief US civilian official in Iraq, was using "multiple channels" in talks to pacify Fallujah and avoid fighting in Najaf, where supporters of anti-U.S. Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr control the city center.
U.S. warplanes attacked targets in Fallujah, and a U.S. armoured vehicle was destroyed in the fighting, witnesses said. (Albawaba.com)
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