Iraqi planes, artillery strike rebel held Falluja

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Iraqi government forces battling al Qaeda-linked militants intensified air strikes and artillery fire on the rebel-held city of Falluja on Sunday, and at least seven people were killed, according to hospital officials and tribal leaders.

Religious and tribal leaders in the city, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, said they feared an imminent assault by the army to expel militants and end a three-week standoff that has driven thousands of people from their homes.

Iraqi security forces have set up a loose cordon around Falluja and have clashed sporadically with insurgents inside. But they have held off from an all-out offensive, to give community leaders and tribesmen time to convince the gunmen to withdraw.

"There is no time left for talks and we're afraid a military solution is looming," said a local cleric in Falluja, which was the scene of two major battles with U.S. troops in 2004. "A third Falluja battle is at the doors".

On Sunday morning, al Qaeda-linked militants attacked an army post in southern Falluja, seizing two Humvee vehicles and destroying a third, local sources said.

A Reuters witness saw gunmen driving the Humvees, in which they were holding four people wearing Iraqi army uniforms captive.

Hospital officials in Falluja said 42 people had been wounded by the air strikes, artillery and mortar shelling.

Four civilians have been killed in Falluja over the past two days. It was not clear if militants had sustained casualties.

The al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which is also fighting in neighbouring Syria , took control of Falluja and parts of nearby Ramadi on Jan. 1 with the help of sympathetic armed tribesmen.

A government military offensive in recent days drove al Qaeda fighters from large desert areas they had been controlling along the Syrian border in western Iraq.

REUTERS

Iraqi planes, artillery strike rebel-held Falluja