Falluja bombarded, three British soldiers were killed

The American forces on Thursday evening launched intensive air raids and artillery attacks against positions to the south and east of Falluja city to the west of Baghdad.

In retaliation to these attacks, gunmen opened mortar shelling and missile shelling at positions for the American forces on the outskirt of the city.

The American artillery bombardment of Falluja earlier in the day left five Iraqis killed including one child and one woman.

The renewed bombardment of Fulluja came amidst news on preparations by the American forces to invade it in the course of a comprehensive plan to "prepare the atmosphere to organize the elections by the beginning of 2005."

Meantime, three British soldiers were killed yesterday in an attack which targeted one inspection point to the south of Baghdad. According to British officials, one Iraqi translator was killed in the same attack.

The British defense office explained in a statement that the attack which targeted its forces was made by a suicide bomber and resulted in injuring other 8 soldiers and followed by an attack by mortar shelling.

The state minister at the defense office Adam Angram said in a press conference in London that the attack targeted "the Military Black Watch" force which arrived on Wednesday in Baghdad in the last shift of its soldiers to " Dog Wood " camp to the southern west of Baghdad to hand over the security missions replacing of American forces which moved towards Falluja in the framework of the preparations to launch a nearby attack against the besieged city since weeks.

On the other hand, five persons were killed and other 15 injured on Thursday in a booby trapped car explosion in Alexandria town to the south of Baghdad.