At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 16 others wounded in clashes between American occupation forces and resistance fighters overnight in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, a doctor said on Friday.
Ahmed Abdullah, a doctor at Falluja general hospital, told Reuters some of the wounded were in a serious condition after the fighting, which residents said lasted several hours and destroyed houses and factory buildings in the east of the town.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Friday.
Powell met Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, where both welcomed a Saudi proposal for Muslim countries to send troops to Iraq.
"We have to make sure that these insurgents understand that we will not be deterred.... The terrorists will be defeated, there can be no other option," Powell said after meeting with Interim President Ghazi al-Yawer. (albawaba.com)
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