Iraqi mosque ablaze after US air strike
Tuesday 12 October 2004
US air strikes have set a mosque ablaze after Iraqi fighters and US marines engaged in heavy clashes in its vicinity in the western town of Hiyt.
Eyewitnesses told Aljazeera that at least one Iraqi was killed and five wounded in the fighting in Hiyt on Monday.
A
US military spokesman said marines came under fire from around 100 fighters near the town of Hiyt, about 170km west of Baghdad, and engaged in an hour-long firefight.
Some of the fighters took up positions in a mosque,
the spokesman in Baghdad said.
"Air strikes were called in on the mosque position. The mosque is partially damaged and is currently on fire," he said.
Hiyt is on the main road that follows the Euphrates river towards Syria.
A US military helicopter was downed in the same city in earlier clashes on Monday, eyewitnesses told Aljazeera.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5FA41DD4-C3A1-42A5-8503-831418384965.htm